Pets at Home boosted by services performance
Pets at Home has seen its group revenue climb by 7.2% to £834.2 million while like-for-like sales rose by 1.5%.
In the year to 30 March, pre-tax profit before exceptional items increased by 1.1% to £96.4 million.
Like-for-like sales in merchandise edged up 0.8% but growth in Pets at Home’s services offering was much stronger with a like-for-like increase of 7.9%.
Ian Kellett, Pets at Home chief executive, said: “We have delivered a solid performance over the year with profits in line with expectations, reflecting in part the strength of our joint venture vet practices where our total income grew 24.6%.
“We are uniquely positioned as the only UK pet business delivering an integrated omnichannel and services offer, supported by our fast-growing vet group, market leading private labels and expert colleagues.”
The company said it has received a positive response from customers to the launch of pricing initiatives in its advanced nutrition private labels and everyday pet essentials categories. As a result, like-for-like merchandise sales improved to a rise of 1% in the 16 weeks from the start of the price repositioning actions which are now being extended to branded foods.
Kellett added: “We are confident this is the right path for success and will give us a strong platform for sustainable future growth.”
Pets at Home has also announced that non-executive directors Paul Coby and Amy Stirling will step down from its board at the company’s AGM on 11 July. Coby will be succeeded by Stansilas Laurent, the former president and chief executive of Photobox and chief operating officer of AOL.com Europe. Meanwhile, Stirling will be replaced by Sharon Flood as chairman of the audit committee.
