LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Halfords Group Plc (HFD.L), a British retailer of motoring and cycling products, on Thursday reported a decline in preliminary pre-tax earnings for the full year, amidst higher costs and expenses.
However, the retailer posted an increase in revenue, helped by Autocentres segment.
For the 12-month period to March 29, the Group posted a pre-tax profit of 38.8 million pounds, lesser than 39 million pounds, registered for the previous year.
Excluding items, profit before tax was down at 43.1 million pounds, from previous year's 46.8 million pounds.
Net profit slipped to 16.9 million pounds or 7.4 pence per share from last year's 28.1 million pounds or 12.4 pence per share.
Adjusted earnings stood at 27.6 million pounds or 12.2 pence per share, compared with 35 million pounds or 15.4 pence per share a year ago.
Result from operating activities stood at 51.9 million pounds, higher than 51.1 million pounds in 2023.
Operating expenses for the period climbed to 770.7 million pounds as against 717.6 million pounds a year ago. Besides, cost of sales was up at 873.9 million pounds, from previous year's 804 million pounds.
Finance costs also rose to 13.1 million pounds from 12.1 million pounds last year.
Revenue was 1.696 billion pounds, up from last year's 1.572 billion pounds. The result was helped by higher Autocentres revenue to 699.4 million pounds from 594.8 million pounds a year ago.
The retailer has proposed a final dividend of 5 pence per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 8 pence per share, a 20 percent reduction from the prior year. The final dividend will be paid on September 13 for the share holders of record as of August 9.
The Group noted that it has registered weak trading since the start of the full-year 2025, mainly due to low consumer confidence around big ticket, discretionary purchases, and poor spring weather, which has reduced store footfall and affected sales of both cycling and staycation products.
Looking ahead, the company, said: 'Whilst we continue to expect market share gains in the year ahead, based on what we are currently seeing we now expect market volumes to decline in FY25 in cycling and consumer tyres, and to remain broadly flat in motoring servicing and retail motoring products.'
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