British car parts to bicycles retailer Halfords is hungry for more acquisitions to build on expected further growth and has a list of 12 targets, it said when posting a 27 percent rise in year profit, according to Reuters. Halfords, which in February bought British car servicing firm Nationwide Autocentres for 73 million pounds ($107 million), said on Thursday it was looking to build on its strengths rather than enter new markets. "We normally keep a list of about 10 or a dozen targets," chief executive David Wild told reporters. The company, which trades from 469 stores, was not targeting turnaround situations or moving overseas, he said. "Since we drew the list up 15-16 months ago some of them have been sold, others the owners don't want to sell. So we just keep a very open mind and review our opportunities against the strategy," he said. Wild said that while pursuing more acquisitions was a key part of company strategy it would not be at the expense of driving the performance of the core business and integrating the 224-site Nationwide business. Halfords shares, which have increased 42 percent over the last yearto outperform a 15 percent rise in the general retail index, were up 6.4 percent at 532 pence at 0840 GMT, valuing the business at 1.1 billion pounds. "Halfords continues to provide defensive growth, backed by a progressive dividend policy, an attractive proposition in uncertain times," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Lansdown Stockbrokers. Retailers are generally emerging from a deep recession but fear steps, such as higher taxes, to rein in a record government deficit will hit consumer spending in the months ahead. Halfords made a pretax profit of 117 million pounds for the year to April 2 -- ahead of company guidance of 114-116 million pounds and up from 92.4 million in 2008-09. Revenue increased 4.6 percent to 832 million pounds, with sales at stores open over a year up 0.7 percent. Gross margin was up 230 basis points to 54.4 percent, reflecting increased sales of higher margin car maintenance products and services and cost savings. Halfords, which cut net debt by 11 percent to 155.5 million pounds over the year, hiked its dividend 26 percent to 20 pence. Wild said he was confident the company would grow earnings in 2010-11 despite the current state of the wider British economy. Halfords is targeting sustainable earnings growth over the medium term of 15 percent a year. Separately on Thursday, Home Retail, Britain's No. 1 household goods retailer, posted a bigger than expected drop in first-quarter sales at its catalogue-based Argos stores, hit by a drop in demand for video games and televisions.
