24th Nov 2020 10:09
(Alliance News) - Pets at Home Group PLC on Tuesday reported a rise in interim profit, as the retailer was designated as "essential" during the national lockdown in the UK allowing it to grow its VIP customers.
Shares in the pet products retailer were down 6.5% in London on Tuesday morning at 391.40 pence each.
In the 28 weeks to October 8, pretax profit rose 15% to GBP38.9 million from GBP34.0 million.
Revenue grew 5.1% to GBP574.4 million from GBP546.3 million, with Retail revenue improving 5.8% to GBP507.8 million and Vet Group revenue flat at GBP66.6 million.
Like-for-like revenue in the first half rose 5.3%, as like-for-like Retail revenue grew 5.8%.
Customer sales, which also includes the firm's joint venture vet practices, improved 4.2% year on year to GBP724.7 million.
"In spite of the ongoing and wide-ranging impact of Covid-19, there is much to be optimistic about," Chief Executive Peter Pritchard said.
He continued: "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."
Pets at Homes left its interim dividend unchanged at 2.5 pence.
"We adapted our operations rapidly post the onset of the pandemic, and our focus on customer acquisition is underpinning market share gains across all channels and strong growth in our VIP and Puppy and Kitten clubs, thereby increasing the long-term opportunity of using data-driven, joined-up solutions across our range of products and services to drive customer share of wallet and lifetime value," Pritchard said.
Pets at Home noted the number of VIPs increased 15% year on year to 6.0 million, with those shopping across more than one channel up 20% year on year.
He added: "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."
Looking ahead, Pet at Home expects full-year underlying pretax profit to be in line with the prior year. For financial 2020, covering the 52 weeks to March 26, the firm recorded underlying pretax profit of GBP93.5 million.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
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