Pets at Home raises full year profit guidance after strong third quarter
Pets at Home has upped its full-year profit guidance after announcing record third quarter results.
In the 12 weeks to 5 January, the retailer’s group revenue increased by 8.8% to £347.5 million due to every part of the business “firing on all cylinders”. Pets at Home attributed the performance to volume growth from record customer numbers.
Retail revenue climbed by 8%, or 7.6% on a like-for-like basis, after the retailer enjoyed a record trading day on 23 December with sales of over £8 million.
Meanwhile Pets at Home’s vet business grew its revenue by 18% in the period. It now has a client base of more than 1.7 million, with new registrations averaging 8,000 per week in the quarter.
The performance has led Pets at Home to increase its full-year underlying profit guidance to the upper end of the current market range of £126 million to £136 million, which is ahead of a previous forecast of £131 million.
Lyssa McGowan, Pets at Home chief executive, said: “We delivered a really pleasing Q3 with acceleration in sales momentum across the platform. Importantly, the quality of our growth remains strong as we continue to grow volumes and attract new customers through offering compelling value and service, in what remains a challenging inflationary environment.
“Creating a better world for pets and the people that love them lies at the heart of our strategy, and I am proud that alongside delivering for our customers, we also raised an incredible £2.1 million for charities through our annual Christmas fundraiser, Santa Paws.”
Pets at Home has also announced that Kathryn Imrie has been appointed to the newly created role of chief consumer officer. Imrie previously held the same role at Sky Deutschland where she helped lead the repositioning of the consumer business.
McGowan added: “I am also delighted to welcome Kathryn Imrie as our new chief consumer officer. She will play a key role in the next stage of our journey in building a consumer-focused, omnichannel, pet care platform.”
