Pets at Home posts uplift in first half sales

Pets at Home grew its group revenue by 5.1% to £574.4 million in the first half of its financial year despite some its services being curtailed during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

In the 28 weeks to 28 October, like-for-like sales rose by 5.3% after retail and vet group like-for-likes increased by 5.8% and 1.2% respectively.

However, there was a drop in group underlying pre-tax profit of 5.1% to £39.6 million in the half year after the company was hit by ongoing costs relating to Covid-19, although there was growth of 43.7% in the second quarter.

Peter Pritchard, Pets at Home chief executive, said: “In spite of the ongoing and wide-ranging impact of Covid-19, there is much to be optimistic about. The market in which we operate remains resilient, with recent changes to our work and leisure patterns supporting rising levels of pet ownership, a good proxy for future growth in both the underlying market and our business.”

During the period, the company worked to acquire more customers and this resulted in strong growth in its VIP and Puppy and Kitten clubs. In addition, omnichannel revenue soared 65.8%.

Pritchard added: “We are introducing new ways to meet our customers’ needs across all channels, making pet care as affordable, convenient, engaging and flexible as possible, and our customer-centric pet care platform, underpinned by the most extensive and unique proprietary pet dataset in the UK and a true omnichannel backbone, provides us with significant competitive advantages.

“There is much to be proud of over the last six months and much to look forward to in equal measure. While we will continue to remain focused and agile in our execution, we are, more than ever, confident in the resilience and longevity of our pet care platform.”