Earnings squeezed at Pets at Home
PETS at Home managed to grow sales last year but earnings were hit by the sluggish economy.
In the year to March sales at the Handforth-based group increased by 7.1% to £544.3m with like-for-like sales growth of 1.3%.
But earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by just 0.5% to £91.7m.
And operating profit, before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation, decreased by 2.4% to £76m. The company said this reflected an increase in depreciation as a result of increased capital spending on growth projects.
The business is owned by the US private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) which acquired it for £955m from Bridgepoint Capital in January 2010. The figures, issued by the company, do not include interest payments on the debt used in the deal.
New chief executive Nick Wood, who joined from American Golf in the summer, said the firm had made “strong progress”, helped by strong returns in areas where it has invested such as micro-chipping and nutrition advice.
Mr Wood said: “In a year of significant capital and revenue investment and against a challenging economic and retail background it is extremely pleasing to report further growth in turnover and profit.
He added: “Whilst there remains a great deal of uncertainty for consumers with little prospect of any real improvement in disposable incomes in the near future, we remain focused on delivering exceptional value for our customers. We believe that this, together with new stores and trading formats, new product and service innovations and the continued exceptional engagement of our colleagues will be the basis of another year of growth.”
During the year the business opened 32 new shops taking its total to 331, commissioned a second distribution centre and set up a global sourcing operation in Hong Kong. It also opened 18 new grooming salons and 19 ‘Companion Care’ outlets in veterinary practices, bringing the total number of salons to 61 and vet practices to 92.
Pets at Home was founded in 1991 by Anthony Preston and now has 5,900 staff.
