Pets at Home maintains guidance as Q3 revenue drops 0.2%
It now expects to exit its Northampton DC by the end of the financial year, completing its network optimisation
Pets at Home has maintained its full-year profit guidance despite the fact that its total group revenue fell 0.2% to £361.6m for the 12 weeks ended 2 January 2025.
Its persistence comes as the company saw its consumer revenue increase 2.3% to £468m during the period.
Pets at Home stated that strong growth within its vet group helped offset the softer performance from its retail business. The retailer saw its vet business revenue grow 21.3% and 19.9% on a LFL basis.
It stated that this was driven by high quality growth with practices seeing double digit revenue growth supported by growth in subscriptions, visits, and average transaction values.
However, the business saw its retail revenue drop 2.4%, and 2.8% LFL, citing particularly weak footfall in October. At the same time, its digital performance improved, building momentum through the quarter, with continued strong growth in subscriptions.
The business stated in its half-year results that it expects its underlying PBT for FY25 to grow “modestly” from last year.
It believes it has maintained a “disciplined” gross margin performance, supported by strong Christmas seasonal sell through, and effectively managed its costs.
Pets at Home also revealed that the transition of its online orders to the Stafford distribution centre (DC) is underway.
It now expects to exit its Northampton DC by the end of the financial year, completing its network optimisation.
Due to this, the retailer expects non-underlying costs of £11m, previously £7m, in FY25 due to the phasing of costs associated with the exit from Northampton.
