Pets at Home shares rise on “strong” H1

Pets at Home shares (LON:PETS) rose on Tuesday after the UK’s largest pet supplies retailer saw its profits increase for the half year.

Shares in the company were up almost 10% during Tuesday morning trading.

Pets at Home said it had a “strong” first half period over the 28 weeks to 10 October.

Group underlying profit before tax on a comparable basis increased by 18.9% year-on-year, amounting to £45 million.

Group revenue was up by 9.4%, with vet group revenue increasing by 19.6%.

Pets at Home added that, because of its strong first half performance, the business remains confident about its full year outlook. Indeed, it expects full year profit towards the top end of current market consensus, despite the prevailing consumer uncertainty.

Indeed, as the nation has been granted yet another extension to its deadline to depart from the European Union, uncertainty among consumers continues to weigh on some businesses.

“I am very pleased with what we have achieved in the first half of the year,” said Peter Pritchard, Group Chief Executive Officer.

“We have executed our plans well, and this has been reflected in the strong customer sales growth across the Group,” the Group Chief Executive Officer continued.

“Our commitment, and that of the Group’s Joint Venture Partners, is to make sure pets and their owners get the very best advice, care and products; and this has led to record levels of VIPs, First Opinion practice clients and subscription customers. In short, our pet care strategy is working.”

Peter Pritchard said: “We have seen sustained momentum in Retail, with a 2-year like-for-like of 13%. This has been complemented by a meticulous delivery of our Vet Group recalibration. The programme to buy out a number of Joint Venture practices is already complete, whilst changes we have made to the fee arrangements for ongoing practices are already showing signs of positive progress and will be followed by further planned adjustments in the second half of the year.”

Shares in Pets at Home Group plc (LON:PETS) were up on Tuesday, trading at +8.97% as of 08:48 GMT.

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