Pets at Home's third quarter consumer revenue, which includes revenue from the group's joint venture vet practices, rose 9% on last year. Consumer revenue's now 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels. There was growth across Pets at Home's Vet Group practices and its core Retail operation. The latter saw revenue rise 8%.
"Robust" trading has continued into the group's final quarter, and pre-tax profits are now expected to be towards the upper end of the current consensus range of £126-136m. That's higher than the previous guidance of around £131m.
The group's digital expansion plans are ongoing.
Pets at Home shares rose 9.8% following the announcement.
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Our view
Pets at Home has once again proved its resilience. In a time of great economic uncertainty, it's posting better-than-expected results. After all, only certain things in life are guaranteed: death, taxes and feeding your dog.
The overall model is attractive. Vet clinics and grooming rooms provide extra revenue streams, but also encourage cross-selling in the core retail business. The cross selling of services is Pets' biggest unique selling point, and a factor that no doubt drove the decision to acquire a telehealth provider.
The group has an enviable hoard of customer data too, with 7.6m 'VIP' members, and increasing Puppy and Kitten Club membership. These will help Pets hone their proposition, driving higher sales. But crucially, they're also boosting the number of customers who buy both a product and a service from the group - a leap which massively increases the average annual spend of these customers and should make them stickier. Pets at Home has only just started to crack this nut, so there's significant potential here.
UK pet ownership continues to look robust. Our new ways of life have culminated in the trend having more room to run than initially thought. That will have a positive effect on demand for a while to come.
The group is perhaps better placed than other physical retailers, because pet goods, especially for first time animal-owners, are the kind of thing you're more likely to seek out face-to-face advice for. In theory that should help keep the in-store tills ringing.
However, in the shorter term there are some challenges. Inflation and the cost-of-living crisis means customers are reining in spending on accessories, which tend to be more lucrative. There'll always be some level of demand for Pets' products, but supercharged profits won't happen while customers are tightening their belts. The group's own costs are mushrooming too, especially around higher energy and labour costs.
Pets has invested heavily in its online offering and continues to ramp up its digital capacity. The new infrastructure will need to be leveraged with a long-term sustained increase in demand to drive profits, but progress is promising.
We're genuinely impressed by the legwork being put into marketing and online infrastructure, and increased pet ownership provides a structural growth opportunity. But these strengths have been largely reflected in recent changes to Pets' valuation.
Pets at Home key facts
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