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Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 3 April 2020
Evolving into a consumer and B2B services-focused business
The opportunity in services, specifically motoring, coupled with our growing scale and capability in this space, supports our plan to accelerate investment in this area. We will evolve into a consumer and B2B services-focused business, with a greater emphasis on motoring, generating higher and more sustainable financial returns.
At our Capital Markets Day in September 2018, we laid out our customer strategy "To Inspire and Support a Lifetime of motoring and cycling". The strategy emphasised the importance of product differentiation, the value of unique and convenient services and the need to build long-term relationships with our customers. Consistent with our strategic direction, we are confident that this is the right time to accelerate the growth of our motoring services business, which will enhance our differentiated position in the market and provide a less capital-intensive source of profitable growth. We believe our plan enables the business to evolve into a consumer and B2B services-focused business, with a greater emphasis on motoring, generating higher and more sustainable financial returns.
The launch of our new Group web platform in February 2020 was a significant achievement, transforming the digital experience and, for the first time, allowing customers to access an integrated service offer across retail stores, garages and mobile vans through one website. Encouragingly, the website held up well in the face of very significant increases in traffic driven by the COVID-19 lockdown, as customers transitioned to digital order channels in a very short space of time.
In November 2019, we announced the purchase of the trade and assets of the mobile tyre fitting company "Tyres on the Drive". This acquisition bolsters our fleet of mobile vans, taking us up to 75 by the end of the year, and gives us ownership of best-in-class software to operate the business.
In November 2019, we also announced the acquisition of McConechy's Tyre Service Limited, one of the UK's leading garage chains, operating from 57 sites with 330 skilled colleagues and close to 100 vans providing 24-hour service for commercial customers. The acquisition helped us to establish strong coverage in Scotland and the North of England and accelerates our plan to reach 550 garages in the medium-term.
Read more in Our Strategy.
Revenue (£m)1
+0.3%
Underlying Profit Before Tax (£m)1,2
-4.9%
Profit Before Tax (£m)1,2
-55.5%
Dividend Per Ordinary Share (p)
-66.7%
Underlying Basic EPS (p)1,2
-0.8%
Basic EPS (p)1,2
-51.4%
1 These numbers are calculated on a 52-week basis
2 These numbers are calculated on a pre-IFRS 16 basis
Read more in the Chief Financial Officer's report.
75%
Group revenue matched to customers
26%
Total Group sales which are service-related
82%
of halfords.com online orders click and collected in-store
15%
Total Group sales from B2B channels