City round-up: Pets at Home; James Fisher; On the Beach

First quarter trading at Cheshire pet care group, Pets at Home, has been encouraging, said chief executive, Lyssa McGowan, who is marking her first year in charge at the Handforth-based group.

Consumer revenue in the 16 week period to July 20, was up 10.2% to £568.2m supported by both volume and value growth. Consumer numbers continued to grow with the active VIP base increasing four per cent to 7.7 million, with more than 22,000 new Puppy & Kitten sign ups and 18,000 new pet registrations a week in the Vet Group.

Total group revenue growth rose 7.9% to £436.8m, with group like-for-like (LFL) revenue up 7.9%.

Vet Group revenue was up 16.3%, with LFL of 16.6%, increasingly supported by the number of visits, as vet capacity increased, improving the mix and continued growth in average spend.

Retail revenue growth was 7.1%, and LFL up 7.1%. The food category remains in volume growth across grocery and premium categories supported by further progress in the group’s relative price position. Accessories trends were consistent with previous quarters, as expected.

There has been continued progress in the development of the group’s digital platform, remaining on track for cut over of the consumer app and website later this year, a key foundation for growth in the years ahead.

The group said it makes change to its guidance for fiscal year 2024 and remains comfortable with current analyst expectations for group underlying profit before tax – consensus is currently £136.8m, with a range of £132m to £142m – noting that the first half profits will carry additional costs to ramp up the new DC (£6m) and the cost of the brand relaunch (£2m), both in line with plans.

Also, in line with the strategy to integrate the business, the group made the decision to consolidate its vet and retail support offices. This move will result in a £3m one-off transition cost in the year.

However, it says its balance sheet remains robust and it is progressing its £50m share buyback programme.

Chief executive, Lyssa McGowan, said: “Our performance in the first quarter has been encouraging.

“The quality of our growth has remained strong as we grew transaction volumes and continued to acquire new consumers at an impressive rate, as our compelling value, range and service continues to resonate with consumers.

“It has also been a quarter of steady delivery against our strategic plan we set out in May. We have expanded and enhanced our physical estate, made good progress in the development of our digital platform, and continued the transition to our new distribution facility, as we execute on our ambition to build the world’s best pet care platform.”

Georgia Pettman, an analyst with investment bank Panmure Gordon, said: “Today’s unchanged update reaffirms the narrative that PETS is set to benefit from maturing COVID pet cohorts in the next 3-5 years.

“It continues to evidence itself as more of a relationship-based business model which we are supportive of.

“Incremental development of its leading petcare platform should continue to fuel growth faster than the broader market over the medium-term (c.4% vs PETS expectations of 7%). We maintain our Buy recommendation and 425p target price accordingly.”

::

JFD’s shadow rebreather equipment

James Fisher, the Cumbrian marine engineering group, has appointed Karen Hayzen-Smith as chief financial officer.

She will take up this position and join the board no later than December 1, 2023, at which point Duncan Kennedy will step down from his position on the board and his role as CFO. Duncan will, however, remain with the company for a short period to ensure a smooth and effective transition of responsibilities.

Karen is currently director of group finance at Johnson Matthey, a role she has held since January 2020, and was interim chief financial officer between November 2020 and April 2021. Karen’s previous roles have included finance director for the aviation sector of Babcock and a variety of senior finance roles at Vodafone, Hanson and Amec Foster Wheeler.

Karen began her career at Arthur Andersen. She is a member of the Institute of the Chartered Accounts of Scotland and the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

James Fisher chief executive, Jean Vernet, said: “Karen comes with a wealth of experience in the energy and defence sectors and a strong track record across all aspects of finance leadership. This, combined with an expertise at driving successful turnarounds, brings considerable strength to our executive team as we execute our ‘Focus, Simplify, Deliver’ strategy.”

Karen Hayzen-Smith, said: “I look forward to working with Jean and the team to progress the company’s strategic and value creation agenda and build upon achievements to date.”

::

On the Beach headquarters

Manchester-based holidays group, On the Beach, has appointed Veronica Sharma to the board as an independent non-executive director, with effect from September 1, 2023. Veronica will also serve as a member of the audit, remuneration and nomination committees.

Most recently Veronica was group chief people officer at online car retailer Cazoo Group, where she led its people and engagement strategy as the company grew from a UK-only organisation into a European business across five markets.

Prior to this she founded a talent advisory and organisational change consultancy to private equity, venture capital and other growth-focused organisations, specialising in technology businesses. Veronica was also group chief people officer at Photobox & Moonpig Group where she led a large scale cultural transformation across Europe and has also worked in a variety of roles at organisations including eBay, Laing O’Rourke and BAA Heathrow Terminal 5.

Richard Pennycook, On the Beach Group chairman, welcomed Veronica, saying: “Her people and organisational strategy capabilities will be complementary to the composition of the board, and her experience working within a number of leading technology enabled organisations will be beneficial as we continue to invest and innovate.”

Veronica Sharma said: “I am excited to join the board of On the Beach, a company right at the heart of the online travel sector – a dynamic space to be.

“I am looking forward to leveraging my digital and people experience and working with the company on evolving its ESG strategy. On the Beach is an innovative and bold business with supportive values to both its people and customers and I look forward to working with my board colleagues and leadership team to deliver its growth agenda.”