Pets at Home sales rise as pre-tax profits shrink

Sales rose 7.2% to £834.2m in the year to March 30, 2017. Like-for-likes grew 1.5%.

The majority of the retailer’s growth came from its services division, which grew 44.5% to £117.5m, or 7.9% on a like-for-like basis.

The retailer’s larger merchandise division delivered 2.9% growth to £716.7m, or 0.8% growth on a like-for-like basis.

On an underlying basis, pre-tax profits dipped slightly from £97.3m to £96.4m. On a non-underlying basis, they rose from £92.1m to £95.4m.

Chief executive Ian Kellett said that the business had delivered a “solid performance with profits in line with expectations, reflecting in part the strength of our joint venture vet practices.”

New price positioning

He added that Pets at Home was repositioning its own label prices and was “encouraged” by the customer reaction.

He said: “Having seen an improvement in merchandise like-for-like to 1% in the 16 weeks since launch, we will move swiftly to deliver even better value.

“We are confident this is the right path for success and will give us a strong platform for sustainable future growth.”

Stores

Pets at Home opened 15 new stores in the period, taking its total to 442.

It added 50 vet practices to make a total of 438, of which 289 are in-store. It also added 50 groomers, taking its total to 290.

The percentage of stores with in-store grooming salons and vet practices rose from 42% in the previous year to 54%.