Pets at Home retail revenues reach £1bn thanks to rise in pet ownership

Peter Pritchard, Pets at Home

An increase in pet ownership during the pandemic has pushed revenues at retailer Pets at Home to £1.1bn.

The Cheshire-headquartered group said it estimated an 8 per cent increase in UK pet ownership over the past year raising the outlook for growth across the market.

Total group revenue for the year to 25 March 2021 grew 7.9 per cent to £1.14bn, retail revenue reached £1bn for the first time with growth of 8.7 per cent during the year, despite Covid-related restrictions.

It also saw growth in its omnichannel revenue of 71.7 per cent, with previous investment in distribution capacity and fulfilment capability supporting retail revenues of 15.8 per cent in the year, up from 10 per cent in the prior year.

The group’s underlying PBT stood at £87.5m, a decline of 6.4 per cent which was partly impacted by the repayment of £28.9m of business rates relief.

Peter Pritchard, Group CEO, said: “We ended this unprecedented year a far stronger pet care business.

“Despite challenges to how we were able to do business, we grew our market share across all channels and our underlying growth trajectory accelerated.

“Our loyalty clubs saw record periods of new customer registration, strong growth in subscription customers increased the visibility and quality of our sales profile, whilst new clients across our veterinary estate helped increase practice profitability and cash flow.

“We achieved all of this while remaining mindful at all times of doing the right thing for all our stakeholders.

Pets at Home

“Covid-19 has structurally changed the dynamics of the pet care market.

“We estimate that the rising level of pet ownership, combined with structural demand drivers such as premiumisation and humanisation, has increased the outlook for growth across our addressable market, and in conjunction with our expectations of continuing to take market share, provides a tailwind to the £600m customer revenue opportunity we see across our business over the medium term.”

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