 fell ten percent after the retailer warned that profit would be flat for the current year. The bicycles to car){kind=link}
Shares in Halfords (LON: HFD) fell ten percent after the retailer warned that profit would be flat for the current year.
The bicycles to car parts group pretax profit of £71.6 million in the year to 30 March, which was in line with expectations but down from £75.4 million in 2016-17.
“We are pleased with the full-year 2018 performance in a challenging retail environment, with profits in line with expectations,” said chief executive Graham Stapleton.
“By focusing more on our specialisms and our services, ensuring that we always provide best value to our customers and presenting a more seamless and inspirational omni-channel experience, there is a really exciting future of growth ahead of us.”
The group has outlined £25 million in additional costs due to the weaker pound and increase in import prices.
Cold weather in March affected sales but over the year, Halfords saw an increase in like-for-like sales by two percent.
“We anticipate the motoring market will remain robust and continue to see good growth prospects for the cycling market although we do not expect prices to rise in cycling this year as in the previous year,” said the group.
“Given this, the phasing of our remaining FX mitigation actions and decisions to accelerate investment in services and customer capabilities, we currently anticipate FY19 Underlying Profit Before Tax to be broadly in line with FY18.”
Halfords has announced the appointment of the former British Airways boss Keith Williams as its non-executive chairman. Williams is also a non-executive director at Royal Mail (LON: RMG) and Aviva PLC (LON: AV).
Williams will replace Dennis Millard, who is retiring.
Shares in the group are up 11 percent over 2018 and closed on Monday at 388p. The business is valued at £775 million.