Pets at Home announced on Tuesday morning that first-half profits have plunged by 81%. Despite this, the pet-product retailer and veterinary group has said the UK pet care market remains “resilient”.

Pre-tax profit for the six months through October dropped to £8 million, despite revenue growing 5.3% to £499.3 million. This figure is an 81% drop compared to the £40.8 million last year.

Following a review of its veterinary business, the company said that it recognised costs had been putting pressure on practices. Pets at Home has said it will offer a buy back and consolidate up to 55 of its 471 practices from joint venture partners. These joint venture partners are typically vets. 25 of these will be operated as company-managed practices and the rest may face closure.

The company’s interim dividend remains at 2.5p per share. For the full year, underlying pre-tax profit is predicted to be at least £80-85 million. Moreover, final dividend will be maintained at 7.5p per share.

Pets at Home will follow a new strategy to become a complete pet care company.

The company’s CEO, Peter Pritchard, has commented on the results:

“Since becoming the Group CEO in May, I have had the opportunity to take stock of the wider group and shape my view of our future. What I have found fills me with confidence. Pets at Home is a healthy business and customers are loving what we do; responding to our price repositioning, investment in digital and the amazing service delivered by our vet partners. We have the ability to offer almost everything a pet owner needs, giving us opportunities our competitors simply don’t have. Which is why my vision is to develop a complete pet care company, uniting our retail and vet businesses.”

“Reviewing our Vet Group has been a priority. I recognise we have grown at pace and more recently, have seen the pressure that rising costs and our fees are placing on this young business. We will need to recalibrate the business to deliver more measured growth, whilst maintaining our plan to generate significant cash profits.”

“We are focused on maximising our unique assets and delivering a plan for sustainable cashflow and profit growth. Given the success of the changes we have made in Retail, I’m confident we can do this.”

Earlier in May, Pets at Home reported a 17% drop in pre-tax profits in its full-year results. Clear this drop was exacerbated as the company entered the first half of the following year. Tuesday’s stock market headlines also include Thomas Cook shares plunging on a profit warning.

At 09:35 GMT today, shares in Pets at Home Group plc (LON:PETS) were trading at -0.61%.