Wilmslow-based pet and vet retailer Pets at Home Group said its group statutory revenue for the 52 weeks to March 27, 2025, edged 0.1% higher to £1.482 billion while group statutory profit before tax rose 14.1% to £120.6 million.
Dividend rose 1.6% to 13p per share.
Pets at Home said its retail consumer revenue was down 1.8% “impacted by a period of subdued growth in the pet sector due to a soft UK consumer backdrop throughout FY25, deflation and normalising levels of new pet ownership.”
The company said its Vet Group consumer revenue was up 13.0% with “record sales supported by high quality growth driven by higher visits, average transaction values and significant growth in Care Plan revenues.”
Pets at Home Group CEO Lyssa McGowan said: “The past two years have seen a profound transformation at Pets at Home. We have moved from a business with a strong presence in pet retail and vets, to a true pet care platform.
“We now have a platform that is fit for the future and capable of delivering sustained outperformance and market share gains through delighting consumers and increasingly fulfilling all of their pet care needs.
“During this period of transformation, we have completely replatformed our digital infrastructure, built new capabilities around our data, brand & marketing, and simplified our distribution network to a single distribution centre fulfilling stores, online and subscriptions, and we have achieved this against the backdrop of a normalising pet care market and low consumer confidence.
“In FY25, we also saw another outstanding year of growth in our vets business, fuelled by the commitment and expertise of our partners, supported by our best-in-class scale services, platform benefits and industry knowhow.
“Our practices significantly outperformed a more subdued industry backdrop and delivered this progress despite the ongoing uncertainty of the CMA investigation – further demonstration of the power of our unique joint venture model.
“I am tremendously proud of our colleagues and partners for navigating this challenging but critical period which leaves us in a position to look to the future with confidence. While FY26 comes with its own challenges as we digest externally imposed cost headwinds and heightened macro uncertainty, our objective is clear – to deliver outperformance against our underlying markets, across our business.”
REACTION:
Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown: “Pets at Home struggled to sell more squeaky toys and treats for the nation’s fur babies last year. Final results point to a 1.8% decline in retail revenue. But that’s been offset by a 16.8% increase in takings from the Vet Group, which has overtaken retail as the company’s biggest profit driver.
“The retail outlook remains subdued. Pets expects to outperform market growth of 2% but with costs rising by up to 5% due to various bits of unhelpful legislation, profits are likely to fall.
“The Vets outlook looks stronger with over 10 new openings planned this year and the group looking relatively well insulated from the likely findings of the Competition and Markets Authority industry-wide probe.
“Despite the challenges, the cash keeps flowing, supporting a 5% yield and giving the company confidence to launch a further £25mn buyback. But in the near term the scope for capital appreciation might be limited after a strong run for the shares.”