Pets at Home: Revenue dips but veterinary arm shows double-digit growth
Animal care retailer Pets at Home has reported a slight dip in profit due to lower retail revenue, although vet revenue has soared.
The FTSE-listed company, which offers both pet purchases and vet care, told markets that revenue fell 0.2 per cent to £361.6m in the 12 weeks to January 2.
Retail revenue fell 2.8 per cent like for like, which Pets at Home attributed to a “more challenging UK consumer backdrop with particularly weak footfall from October”.
Growth was instead driven by revenue in its veterinary arm, with like-for-like growth of 19.9 per cent supported by “growth in subscriptions, visits, and average transaction values”. The company has 400 surgeries across the UK.
Animal care is a large and growing market – in 2022, consumers in the UK spent nearly £10bn on pet-related products, up nearly 100 per cent in a decade.
Pets at Home said it was on track to deliver “modest growth” in profit for the full year, although said it would incur a high-than-expected charge for this financial year due its movement from a Northampton distribution centre to a Stafford distribution centre.
It is moving to Stafford to establish a centralized national distribution center, allowing to supply all stores from one location.
The 670,000 sq ft site is expected to employ more than 800, and is the biggest investment in the company’s history. It will now incur a non-underlying cost of £11m, previously expected to be £7m.
The company has also previously said changes to the National Living Wage and employers National Insurance Contributions (NICs) announced in the Autumn budget would add £18m in cost headwinds in the financial year 2026.
Pets at Home’s share price has been under pressure recently due to a Competition and Markets Authority probe in the veterinary sector. It has fallen nearly 30 per cent in the last year.