Pets at Home reports pawsome financials as shares jump seven per cent
The lockdown craze for buying pets seems to be continuing with Pets at Home reporting a bumper set of financials.
In the six months to 07 October group revenue swelled by 18 per cent to £677.6m, with like for like sales up by 28.6 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels. Investors will be wagging their tails having got their paws on a payout of 11.3 pence per share, up from 6.3 pence in the first half of the previous year.
Peter Pritchard, the group’s chief executive commented on the results. He said “our business has never been more robust.”
“Notwithstanding some near-term, industry-wide challenges, we continue to grow ahead of our plans and, based on trading year to date, we are on track to report a record year of sales and profit growth,” he added.
It comes as UK consumers pick up furry companions in record numbers. According to the Pet Food Manufacturers Association, 3.2m households have got a pet since the pandemic started and there are now around 12m cats and 12m dogs in homes across the UK.
Pets at Home also saw a surge of interest in its pet care services. Client registrations across the store’s First Opinion veterinary practices averaged around 10,000 per week, around 10 per cent of all veterinary visits.
The company made no change to its annual profit guidance, but noted that full year pre-tax profit is anticipated to be at the top end of the current range of analyst expectations.
The cat has certainly got its cream with Pets at Home’s shares up by 7.72 per cent today.
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