HALFORDS must shift its focus to more essential products as shoppers trim back discretionary purchases, bosses said yesterday morning.

The cycling specialist said that a switch-up to selling more "needs-based" items was key as the firm must become less "reliant and exposed to the volatility of more discretionary product markets".

It warned it was expecting its full year underlying profit before tax to be at the lower end of its £65m-£75m range.

The retailer had continued to see "resilient" sales in its more needs-based categories but had clocked a "softening" in less essential areas, it said yesterday. While it was "challenging" to predict what consumer confidence would be like for the rest of the 2023 financial year, Halfords said it didn't expect that the challenges facing businesses would "dissipate soon".

In results for the six months until the end of September, Halfords said earnings had slipped after rampant inflation and softer retail spending.

In addition to revealing financial results, Halfords said it was launching a recruitment drive to hire 1,000 new automotive technicians across its autocentres business over the next 12 months.

Chief executive Graham Stapleton said he wanted to rewire the company's workforce to meet increased demand for vehicle servicing.

Shares closed down over seven per cent yesterday after the update.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper