Pets at Home’s profits ‘to beat expectations’

Pets at Home now expects its profits to be ahead of expectations this year as it bites back against the impact of Covid-19.

The Cheadle-headquartered group has revealed its post-lockdown momentum has continued, delivering double-gigit growth through July and August.

Market consensus had been for pre-tax profits of £73m in the year to March 2021, compared with £93.5m in 2020.

The company said: “As a consequence of the sustained strength in performance we have seen, we now expect full-year underlying pre-tax profit to be ahead of current market expectations.”

It had previously said it had seen a “normalisation of shopping habits” from pet owners.

The pet care business has retail and veterinary operations and both had performed well, it said in a statement. It had been designated as an “essential” retailer during lockdown.

It added: “This is testament to several factors, not least the inherent resilience in our pet care model and the underlying pet care market.

“We continue to benefit from the adaptability of our operations to changes in customer behaviour and preferences, our continuing investment in omnichannel capacity and customer acquisition channels, and the clear advantages of our unique owner-managed First Opinion veterinary model.”