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Pets at Home unleash profits topping £100m

A spate of new stores and further growth by acquisition of its vets business saw the annual earnings of Cheshire firm Pets at Home reach a new high - pushing past £100m.

The firm, bought by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for about £955m, made profit before tax, goodwill and one-off items of £54.24m in the year ended March 25.

The Handforth-based company is already the biggest pet shop chain in the UK, and is now set to become the biggest operator of veterinary practices as it opens in-store locations and stand-alone entities.

Having just opened its 350th store, Pets at Home saw sales growth of nearly 10% in the year to the end of March as turnover rose to £598.3m.Like-for-like sales growth in the period was 2.2%, an improvement on the 1.3% reported in the previous year. EBITA - which does not include interest payments - was up 9.8% to £100.8m. During the year the number of vet practices - thanks to its March acquisition of Vets4Pets - rocketed from 92 to 209. Chief executive Nick Wood heralded a “another successful year” for the business, which on top of its strong financial performance was ranked as the best big business to work for by the Sunday Times. He said:“We continued to invest in organic growth, opening 32 new stores, 24 new Companion Care surgeries and 26 more Groom Rooms during the year. With our more recent openings, we now operate from over 350 stores.” “Market conditions remain challenging with disposable incomes under pressure for many of our customers. Against this backdrop we remain committed to delivering fantastic value as well as exceptional service to our customers through new stores and trading formats, new product innovation, and the engagement and knowledge of truly committed colleagues throughout the business. “We will continue to improve the experience for our customers and look forward to a year of further growth.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .