British car parts to bicycles retailer Halfords has today posted an 11.4% rise in full-year profit.
Its push to improve customer service and expand its cycling ranges helped it reach its £1 billion revenue target a year ahead of schedule.
In Jill McDonald's first update since joining from McDonald's in May to replace Matt Davies as chief executive, the firm said pretax profit for the year to March rose to £81.1m.
This was ahead of analysts' expectations of £78.9m, according to Reuters data.
Total revenue grew 6.9% with retail sales at stores open over a year up 7%.
Car maintenance sales rose 8.5%, with cycling sales up 11.4% on continuing strong demand.
Halfords said its retail operating costs would increase by 4-5% as it continues to invest in key areas of the business.
