First-quarter numbers from Pets at Home – which has 36 stores in Scotland including Dundee, Arbroath, Perth, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and Stirling – showed encouraging improvements as the retailer’s management took action after a disappointing previous period.
Group revenue in the 16 weeks to July 21 climbed 5.0% to £256.5m as like-for-like revenue swelled 2.7% thanks to strong growth in specialist referral vet services and continued momentum in merchandise.
Merchandise revenue grew 2.8% to £216.4m, with merchandise like-for-like growth accelerating to 1.5% thanks to some investment in price.
Services revenue galloped up 18.8% to £40.1m, including joint venture vet practice income up 19.7% to £16.2m.
Other initiatives to drive growth included the launch of a second product in licensed medicine, ‘Subscribe and Save’.
Omnichannel revenue mushroomed 80% during the quarter, with around 60% of digital revenues now involve colleague assistance or via a store through the Click & Collect, Order-In-Store and subscription services.
During the period, there were five Pets at Home superstores opened, two Vets4Pets practices and six Groom Room salons.
Chief executive Ian Kellett stated that the profit outlook for the full year remains in line with expectations as the merchandise price investment and operational cost savings continued as planned.
The group is on track to deliver full year opening targets of around 10 superstores, 40-50 vet practices and 40-50 grooming salons.
Kellett said: “We have continued our everyday lower price repositioning and reduced the reliance on short term promotional discounts. We remain encouraged by the overall response to our pricing changes and by the number of both new customers and those we have welcomed back.
“We have also strengthened our omnichannel capabilities substantially, with subscription services, Order-In-Store and Click & Collect performing particularly well.”
