Halfords, the car and cycle retailer's, share price has fallen on the FTSE 250 after a sluggish first quarter held back sales.

The group which owns 462 stores in UK and Ireland reported a like-for-like drop in sales after a delay in its Summer Promotional campaign - sending its shares tumbling despite an increase in group revenue.

By 9:30 am the price was 504.50 pence however paring some of the losses made, down by 2.32 pct, leaving shares in Halfords, which have increased by a third over the last six months currently valuing it at just over one billion.

Halfords, meanwhile maintained that it was on course to make its full year earnings of £944 million consensus forecast with £134 million profits before tax - substantially higher than the £831m revenue and £109m profits posted last year - and helped by its acquisition of Nationwide Autocentres which helped rise revenues 9.6 pct this quarter.

Overall, group like-for-like revenue was down with core categories of car maintenance and cycling holding up, however Halfords remain cautious over the macro-economic conditions.

David Wild, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The resilience of the Halfords business model is confirmed by further like-for-like growth in our core categories despite the consumer headwinds experienced across the retail sector. Our focus remains on managing the controllable elements of the business. Actions taken to manage gross margins, reduce costs and increase efficiency, are delivering the benefits we expected. The integration of Nationwide is continuing well and I remain pleased with early performance and progress.

We are cautious about the macro economic environment but, through the execution of our proven strategy, we remain on track to deliver full year earnings growth in line with previous guidance"

FTSE