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(Alliance News) - Pets at Home Group PLC on Tuesday said quarterly sales "didn't quite hit" anticipated levels, as the company forecasts its full year results at the lower end of expectations.
The Wilmslow, England-based pet supply retailer said revenue was GBP362.4 million for the three months ended January 4, up 4.3% from GBP347.5 a year prior, and up 4.4% on a like-for-like basis.
Vet Group revenue was up 13% over the same period, the company's financial third quarter, supported by additional "vet talent", reduced vacancy rates, and sustained average spend growth, the company said. Actual figures were not provided alongside the revenue changes.
Retail division revenue was up 3.5%, but remained below Pets at Home's expectations for the quarter. However, with volume growth and share gains across food despite a "slowing market backdrop", Pets at Home believes the division remains "fundamentally well positioned".
Given retail revenue falling below expectations, Pets at Home expects around GBP132 million in pretax profit for the full-year, which runs to the end of March. This is ahead of GBP122.5 million achieved in financial 2023, but at the bottom end of previous forecasts of between GBP132 million and GBP142 million.
Pets at Home said that it remains financially "robust", and expects to finish the year in a net cash position, having finished financial 2023 with GBP54.7 million in cash.
In October, Pets at Home selected Provet Cloud, a veterinary practice management solution run by Nordhealth, as a partner for its new property management system. Rollout of the system will begin in 2025, and will "unlock productivity benefits for our practice partners and enable better integration of our vets into our pet care platform", the company said.
Chief Executive Officer Lyssa McGowan said: "Our colleagues came together over our peak trading period to deliver a record sales performance, growing against a very strong performance in the prior year. While a slower market over peak meant our sales growth didn't quite hit the levels we expected, the business remains well positioned to benefit from long term growth in the sector as we continue to win share and grow volumes across food and deliver differentiated performance through our unique vets business."
Shares in Pets at Home were down 1.0% at 290.17 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter
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