Pets at Home on track with 10% sales hike
NEW store openings, its customer loyalty scheme and move into services such as vets’ practices and grooming helped Pets at Home deliver encouraging first quarter results.
The Handforth-based group which floated earlier this year, said like-for-like sales in the 16 weeks to July 17 were up 4.1%, while total revenue grew by 10.4% to £210.8m as a result of new store openings.
The retailer said its VIP Club loyalty scheme was continuing to strike a chord with its customers – membership rose by 400,000 to 2.4 million in the first quarter alone.
During the first quarter, we opened 10 new stores, 16 veterinary practices and 19 Groom Rooms, including 10 veterinary practice and nine Groom Room retrofits to existing stores.
The company said a “key focus” for the current financial year is the delivery of at least 25 new stores, 60 new veterinary practices and 50 new Groom Room salons.
It stated: “Given the strong first quarter performance, continued momentum in our VIP Club, the developing maturity of veterinary practices and Groom Rooms, and plans to further enhance our Advanced Nutrition offering in stores this Autumn, we remain confident in our expectations for the full financial year.”
Chief executive Nick Wood said: “We are pleased with the start to our financial year, with first quarter like-for-like growth of 4.1%. Our differentiated offering in the pet retail market, an increasingly seamless approach to omni-channel, and growing customer participation and engagement in our VIP loyalty programme continues to drive strong returns.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to seize opportunities to grow and develop Pets At Home and focus on the delivery of our strategy. Given the strong first quarter performance, we remain confident in our expectations for the full financial year.”
