nk1999
17 Apr 2016
Berenberg From Citywire:"Halfords cycling sales going downhill Halfords (HFD) has reported a mixed quarter as cycling continues to disappoint.Berenberg analyst Michelle Wilson retained her ‘hold’ recommendation and target price of 375p on the shares, which fell 2.1% to 414.4p yesterday.‘Another mixed quarter in Q4, with motoring strong and cycling again disappointing,’ she said.‘We believe the weakness in cycling is driven by narrow product depth, poor availability and strong competition online. Management has guided to flat profit before tax in full-year 2017 and growth thereafter, however we remain cautious about longer-term expectations given slow cycling market growth and margin pressure from staff training costs, the living wage, cycling sales mix and online sales mix.‘As flagged at the interims, despite ongoing investments in the business, management sees the potential for a surplus cash return, which may be announced at the prelims in June.’ "
II Editor
15 Apr 2016
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: Reasons to keep buying this share "Is LSE:HFD:Halfords shaping up as a sustainable turnaround? Since I drew attention to the bikes and car parts retailer last December at 322p the price has risen nearly a third to 420p, and you also had the chance to lock in a yield over 5% - ..."[link]
elliottsilverman
14 Apr 2016
Up your jacksie UBS : P
nk1999
13 Apr 2016
HL view "Halfords has announced a fourth quarter trading update for the 11-week period to 1 April 2016. Like-for-like (LFL) sales grew by 2.6% in Q4, with Retail growing by 3.1%. Most of this acceleration was due to the early timing of Easter (last year it fell outside the reporting period). Adjusting for this effect, underlying Retail LFL sales grew by 1.1%; which was nevertheless an improvement on the flat like-for-likes reported in Q3. The shares rose by 4% in early morning trading.In Cycling, a second consecutive quarter of growth in sales of bikes was offset by a small decline in parts, accessories and clothing. Motoring sales grew against tough comparatives; driven by in-car dash cams, car cleaning products and travel equipment.Autocentres LFL sales were up 1.7%, the 10th consecutive quarter of LFL growth.Halfords continue to expect full year profit before tax to be in the range of £78-82m, as previously guided.Our view:Halfords is a business that enjoys clear leadership in many of its chosen markets, but which always seems to struggle to turn that leadership into the sort of financial performance one might hope for. Service levels have been notably poor for many years and too many stores are in need of a lick of paint, or rather more. Under Matt Davies, and now Jill McDonald the group is trying to rectify these failings, with an extensive programme of investment in staff and stores alike.But execution is still not where you would want it. A year or two ago, the opportunity was said to be in cycling PACs (parts, accessories and clothing) but greater emphasis in store on these categories has not delivered the hoped for step-up in performance. That seems to be at the heart of Halfords difficulties; it just isn't very good at selling, not least because historically, staff turnover was enormous, meaning all too often they lacked the depth of experience to provide the advice the customers were seeking, and the store environment was not conducive to making shoppers want to linger.If Jill McDonald can really move the dial on these issues then Halfords could live up to its promise, but history says that chickens should not be counted until hatched. In the meantime, the stock is trading on a PE of just under 12x consensus earnings, with a yield of 4.3%, making it one of the more lowly rated retailing names that we look at. Analysts are forecasting only muted growth in the next few years whilst the group incurs the costs of restructuring itself to be fit for the future.All yield figures are variable and not guaranteed."SP up from 386p to 422p today.
Hardboy
13 Apr 2016
Q4 Trading statement There's nothing spectacular in the figures - just good steady progress; but I think it is the first time I can recall all areas of the retail business growing like for like - usually some are doing well, some losing ground, so that is good news. Pleased to see the market's reaction. Take that UBS!
Hardboy
01 Apr 2016
UBS Effect This was trading very nicely since the turn of the year. The only relevant news had been the IMS on 21st Jan which caused the sharp rise in share price. Then we had a nice gradual rise up to 18th March. Then UBS downgraded them, and it's been down hill ever since. For the latest known knowns read the IMS in January, and ignore the brokers!
mtap
22 Mar 2016
Re: Brokers Exactly, it's hardly doing their customers any good to issue a sell note which reduces the price they will get if they take the advise to sell! It is purely the broker manipulating the market for their own benefit.
elliottsilverman
21 Mar 2016
Not very comprehensive note - doesn't take account of modest p/e; decent yield, strong brand and presence and on-going growth in cycling
elliottsilverman
21 Mar 2016
This from the FT this afternoon: [link]
Derek Hope
21 Mar 2016
Re: Brokers I agree. Brokers notes are all about getting people to buy or sell so they can earn on sales or purchases. A lot of it is so called "Analysts" justifying their existence. In some cases we see sell notes and buy notes on the same day for the same stock but from different brokers.
Hardboy
21 Mar 2016
Brokers As far as I can see the reason for the big fall today is because UBS have downgraded them (not seen the actual note) - no news regarding their markets or business or the company. ****** Brokers! it wouldn't be so bad if most of them said anything useful!
sapito
24 Jan 2016
Re: Give the Board a brake! HL missed the fact that they were oversold. I was lucky enough to get in at 320p. And I think they've got a lot further to go.....
paddington_bear
22 Jan 2016
Give the Board a brake! Various pundits have damned this share and the company leadership with faint praise. The drift down to below 350p seems overdone given this is an established firm making annual profits, steadily reducing its debt and paying a reasonable dividend.Yes, the forward direction may not be crystal clear but the Board will know more clarity required in the next report. For a retailer with a strong market share in its fields, a P/E around 9 seems cheap, so picked up some at 324p.Hargreaves Lansdown's comment about the recent update was that a 10% rise in price based on a "flat" progress report was one of the market's mysteries. I am hoping this will mirror Laura Ashley as a profitable retailer with a chunky dividend that does its own thing successfully and keeps money flowing into the SIPP as a longer term hold.PB.
Tenobas
22 Dec 2015
Interesting With a P/E ratio of 10 this share should be interesting.I wonder though whether Click and Collect at places like Argos or Homebase is a major threat to this business model.It is not obvious to me that we have seen the bottom but well worth watching.
II Editor
22 Dec 2015
NEW ARTICLE: Stockwatch: A hot share for income-seekers "Has LSE:HFD:Halfords repaired its puncture? Since the wet summer, Halfords has plunged from 561p to 322p, amid weakness in cycling-related sales.About 30% of revenues from this mid-cap retailer of car and bike products derive from cycling, which ..."[link]
