Halfords set to announce former Monsoon boss as CEO

British auto and parts dealer Halfords could be set to appoint retail businessman John Browett as its new chief executive after he left fashion retailer Monsoon last month.

According to an equity sales analyst in London, Browett, who has held executive management positions at leading retailers, is top choice in the line-up for the Halfords job and his appointment could lead to a 5% increase in the stock price.

Browett previously ran Tesco’s online delivery business before he became chief executive at Dixon’s Currys and PC World chains. That was followed by a brief stint at Apple, before he served as the boss at Monsoon.

Last month, press speculation linked Browett to Halfords.

However industry magazine Retail Week reported that a source close to Halfords had denied the rumours.

The speculation comes after Halfords's current chief executive Matt Davies departs for a role as managing director of Tesco’s UK operation.

Analysts at JPMorgan took note of the Retail Week report, saying that an update on a new CEO is likely before Halfords reports full year results on June 5. “We believe that the search for a new CEO is progressing well,” said JPMorgan.

As such, the bank raised its full year pre-tax profit forecasts for 2015 by 3.5% to £79.6m from £76.9m. “We believe a strong trading performance in the fourth quarter is likely (to be) in the high margin car maintenance category, driven by helpful weather,” added JPMorgan.