Pets at Home reports strong full year results
Pets at Home has said that trading in the first quarter of its financial year has been in line with expectations after reporting a 9.6% increase in annual revenue.
In the 52 weeks to 26 March, total revenue reached £729.1 million with like-for-like sales growing by 4.2%.
Pre-tax profit reached £87 million while underlying EBITDA increased by 9.6% to £121.3 million.
The company said its VIP Club loyalty scheme was helping to drive like-for-like growth and customer engagement. The number of VIP Club members reached 3.2 million by the year end, after 1.2 million members were added during the year.
Pets at Home finished the year with 400 stores after opening 25, closing one, and temporarily closing its Rugby store. It also opened 61 vet practices to bring the total portfolio to 338.
Nick Wood, Pets at Home chief executive, said: “I am delighted to announce another year of progress as we continue to deliver on our targets for growth, with strong cash flows allowing us to deliver a dividend payment at the top end of our commitment.
“We have seen excellent progress in Advanced Nutrition, a product area that benefits significantly from the specialist knowledge of our highly-trained colleagues and where we have a strong market presence through our private brand, Wainwright’s.
“We have also seen excellent growth in pet services as we roll-out new vet practices and groom rooms and the existing estate continues to mature. I am particularly proud of our colleagues whose passion for pets mirrors that of our customers and helps to keep our focus firmly on customer engagement.”
The company also announced that it has implemented a new divisional structure to drive performance.
Chief financial officer Ian Kellett has been appointed as chief executive of the newly formed retail division while Sally Hopson, previously customer and people director and chief executive of the Vet Group, has become chief executive of the services division.
Pets at Home said Kellett will remain as chief financial officer and commence the transition to his new role while the company seeks his successor.
Wood added: “With our business growing strongly, we have decided that now is the right time to implement a new divisional structure to drive performance further. It’s a sign of our strength that we have two people of the calibre of Ian Kellett and Sally Hopson to take responsibility for our retail and services divisions, as we look forward to another year of expansion and profitable growth.”
