Since Graham Stapleton jumped into the driver’s seat, Halfords has been in a spin.
In less than two years, the retailer of car parts and bikes has issued four profit warnings, blaming the changeable British weather. The shares have halved to 171p, valuing it at £340m.
The main reason it has not been even more of a bloodbath is the dividend — but now the City is beginning to believe that sacred cow could be sacrificed.
After taking time to assess the business, Stapleton decided it needed investment. Last November, he pledged to raise spending from £40m to up to £60m a year. However, as trading got worse, he throttled it back down to £31m for the year while leaving Halfords’ generous payout untouched.
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