By Adria Calatayud
Halfords Group said Wednesday that pretax profit for fiscal 2023 fell sharply, hit by cost inflation and market headwinds, but said it expects profit growth in the year ahead.
Pretax profit for the year to March 31 was 43.5 million pounds ($57.8 million) compared with GBP96.6 million a year before, the U.K. provider of motoring and cycling products said. On an underlying basis, pretax profit for fiscal 2023 fell to GBP51.5 million from GBP89.8 million the prior year.
Revenue for the year rose to GBP1.59 billion from GBP1.38 billion in fiscal 2022, Halfords said.
The company said it is comfortable with current consensus expectations of an underlying pretax profit of GBP53.3 million in fiscal 2024, as it aims to offset cost inflation through an efficiency program.
Halfords said it expects first-half profit to be down on the year-earlier period and a return to year-over-year growth in the second half.
The board proposed a final dividend of 7 pence a share, taking its total payout for the year to 10 pence a share, an 11% increase on the prior year.
Write to Adria Calatayud at [email protected]
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