22nd Jan 2019 09:40
LONDON (Alliance News) - Pets At Home Group PLC on Tuesday guided for its annual performance to be in line with the prior year, after reporting revenue increased during its third quarter.
Pets at Home shares were trading up 9.2% at 137.00 pence each on the back of the news.
For the 12-week period to January 3, the animal products retailer said group revenue rose 6.3% to GBP237.2 million from GBP223.3 million in the comparative period a year ago. The increase was 5.1% on a like-for-like basis.
Retail revenue increased 5.5% to GBP213.4 million from GBP202.3 million. On a like-for-like basis it was up 4.7%.
The company's Vet Group revenue was up 14% year-on-year to GBP23.8 million from GBP21.0 million. On a like-for-like basis, it increased 9.1%.
"Momentum in Retail accelerated over the festive period, culminating in the biggest trading day of our entire history on the Saturday before Christmas," Chief Executive Officer Peter Pritchard said.
He added: "This resulted in 4.7% like-for-like growth in Retail, an impressive 11% growth on a two year basis."
For the full-year ending in March, the company reiterated its adjusted pretax profit guidance of between GBP80 million and GBP85 million, in line with last year's GBP84.5 million.
Looking ahead at the UK's exit from the European Union in March, Pets at Home said it is considering to increase its inventory holding by up to GBP8.0 million to deal with the event of a no-deal Brexit.
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