25th May 2022 18:10
(Alliance News) - Pets At Home Group PLC rewarded investors who stayed the course on the animal products retailer by delivering robust earnings growth and substantial dividend hike.
Pets At Home on Wednesday posted a surging profit thanks to its "resilient" pet care unit as a boom in pet ownership helped propel it to record sales growth.
Pretax profit for the financial year ended March 31 rose 40% to GBP148.7 million from GBP106.3 million a year ago. Revenue climbed to GBP1.32 billion from GBP1.14 billion.
The Cheshire, England-based retailer declared a final dividend of 7.5 pence, bringing the total dividend to 11.8p per share, up 48% from 8.0p.
Meanwhile, the firm posted an annual 65% surge in underlying pretax profit to GBP144.7 million from GBP87.5 million as like-for-like sales jumped up 16%. For its financial year 2023, it expects an underlying pretax profit of GBP151.0 million.
"The market might have been wrong to doubt the robustness of Pets at Home, judging by its latest results. Prior to publication, its share price had fallen 40% year-to-date amid fears over a drop in consumer spending. Pets at Home's full-year figures show that pet lovers are still happy to splash the cash on their tabby or poodle. Investors who remained loyal to the company are now getting a big reward in the form of a 36% increase in the final dividend," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
The stock closed up 13% at 318.00 pence, the best performer in the FTSE 250 on Wednesday, but remains 33% lower so far this year.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Pets at home