4th Jun 2015 06:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - Pets at Home Group PLC on Thursday posted a substantial rise in pretax profit for its 2015 financial year, boosted by the lack of exceptional costs it booked last year and by robust revenue growth in its merchandise and services businesses.
The FTSE 250-listed pet retailer said its pretax profit for the 52 weeks to March 27 was GBP87 million, nearly quadruple the GBP22.5 million it posted a year earlier. The figure for the 2014 financial year was pulled lower by the company booking GBP29.7 million in exceptional costs related to its listing on the London Stock Exchange, but even stripping out those costs, pretax profit was up in the recent financial year from GBP52.2 million previously.
Revenue rose to GBP729.1 million from GBP665.4 million, driven by an 8.3% rise in merchandise revenue, a 9.8% rise in food revenue and a 6.6% increase in accessories revenue. Services revenue rose by 25%, with fee income from joint venture veterinary practices rising 31%. Like-for-like revenue grew 4.2%, with merchandise revenue up 3.7% and services revenue rising 10.7%.
The company said it will pay a total dividend for the year of 5.4 pence per share, its maiden payout.
The group added it is confident in its prospects for the coming year, with trading in the first quarter of its 2016 financial year in line with its expectations.
"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," said Nick Wood, Pets at Home's chief executive.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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