Chain’s sales of battery-assisted models have risen 130% in a year but overall profits are down 7.5% due to the fall in sterling

Bike and car parts retailer Halfords has reported a surge in demand for electric bikes.

Sales of e-bikes soared 130% over the year at Halfords, helping to increase its total cycle sales by more than 5%. They start at just under £500, with a top-of-the-range model – which promises a top speed without pedalling of 15mph – costing £2,299.

Its chief executive, Jill McDonald, said: “Sales are hitting a tipping point as people understand what e-bikes are.”

She said they made cycling accessible to many older people and Halfords has tripled the number of outlets where the battery-assisted bikes are available. It has also trained all its staff to sell them and has increased its range. E-bikes now make up 4% of the chain’s total bike sales.

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However, the retailer’s underlying profits still fell 7.5% to £75.4m, largely down to fall in the pound’s value since the Brexit vote, which increased the cost of buying goods from overseas.

McDonald said cutting better deals with suppliers and improving efficiency as well as raising some prices had only partly offset the impact of sterling’s fall against the dollar. Nearly all bikes are bought in dollars.

McDonald said prices for premium bikes sold at independent retailers had risen by as much as 15%, while most mainstream operators had increased prices by 4% to 5%. She insisted Halfords’ prices had risen less than that.

McDonald, who is leaving Halfords in October to become head of non-food including clothing at Marks & Spencer, said the cycle market still had good growth prospects: “People want to get fit and healthier and cycling is an affordable low impact way to get fitter,” she said.