Halfords profit back on track as sales accelerate

LONDON (Reuters) - Car parts and bike retailer Halfords Group (HFD.L) said on Thursday its full-year profit should meet expectations after like-for-like sales growth accelerated in February and March.

Halfords said like-for-like sales rose 4.6 percent in the nine weeks to March 28, but a more appropriate indicator of current trading was the 3.2 percent rise in like-for-like sales in the seven weeks to March 14, which excludes the two weeks covering the early Easter this year.

The latest trading figures are an improvement on 2 percent like-for-like sales growth for the 17 weeks to January 25, and take growth for the 52 weeks ended March 28 to 4.2 percent.

"Through a combination of good growth in sales and close scrutiny of costs, the company is expecting to declare full-year profit before tax in line with market expectations," the company said in a statement.

Halfords, which runs 450 stores selling spark plugs, car radios and bicycles, said car maintenance and cycling lines had been its strongest performers.

Analysts at Seymour Pierce Research retained their "buy" rating on Halford stock. "The defensive, if slightly unexciting, characteristics of the business should see Halfords trading at a premium to the sector at this time in the cycle," analyst Andrew Wade said in a research note.

Analysts' median forecast is for full-year pretax profit of 87.9 million pounds, according to Reuters Estimates. Full-year results are due on June 5.

Halfords shares were down 1.1 percent at 291.50 pence at 9:35 a.m.

Halfords, which floated in 2004 and employs 10,500 staff, has outperformed the London-listed general retailers' index .FTASX5370 by almost 30 percent for the past 12 months.

(Reporting by Golnar Motevalli)