Halfords reports fall in H1 profit

Nov 9 (Reuters) - British bicycles to car parts retailer Halfords Group Plc (Frankfurt: A0B5TU - news) on Thursday reported a smaller-than-expected half-year profit, hurt by higher costs resulting from a weaker pound

For the 26 weeks to Sept. 29 its underlying pretax profit fell 9.8 percent to 36.8 million pounds versus a forecast of 37.4 million pounds from analysts.

Group revenue rose 3.8 percent to 588.7 million pounds.

Its retail gross margin fell 182 basis points to 45.7 percent, the company said in a statement.

Halfords said cost of sales rose 15 million pounds as a result of a pound.

A weaker pound since the Brexit vote has raised Halfords' sourcing costs. But the firm has also said it could benefit from the country's vote to leave the European Union if the fall in sterling means more Britons opt to holiday in Britain rather than overseas. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)