Pets at Home posts higher sales ahead of Christmas
Pets at Home has announced that its half-year consumer revenue has come in better than expected with growth of 8.6% to £1 billion.
The company, which also operates veterinary practices, saw its group revenue climb by 6.5% to £774.2 million as like-for-like revenue rose by 6.2%.
Retail revenue and like-for-like sales both rose by 5.2% in the six-month period to 12 October, despite short-term availability issues caused by the retailer moving its store logistics operations into its new Stafford distribution centre. Veterinary revenue climbed by 19%.
Meanwhile, underlying pre-tax profit fell by 19.3% to £47.8 million following the impact of continued investment in the company’s platform, higher logistics costs and a brand relaunch. On a statutory basis, pre-tax profit was down 35.2% to £34.7 million.
Lyssa McGowan, Pets at Home chief executive, said: “H1 has been a critical period in laying the foundations of our platform for future growth. This was the period of high activity when we relaunched our brand, launched our new DC, built our new digital platform, and made progress expanding and improving our physical assets across retail and vets.
“This period has not been without challenges, but we have been able to manage these well and are on track to finish FY24 with a refreshed, modernised infrastructure, fit to deliver growth for many years to come.”
Giving an update on current trading, Pets at Home said the early weeks of its third quarter have started well with the new distribution centre now supporting all stores. Retail like-for-like sales have grown by around 4% following record Halloween trading and good initial sell through of Christmas ranges.
The company said it remains confident of delivering a full-year group underlying pre-tax profit of around £136 million, which is in line with analyst consensus.
McGowan added: “As we stand today, through our point of peak investment, with the benefits of our new distribution centre and new digital platform still ahead of us, we look to the future with confidence that we can deliver our plan, to build the world’s best pet care platform.”
