Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading pet business, today announces a scheduled trading update for the 16 week period from 31st March to 20th July 2017, compared with the 16 week period from 1^st April to 21^st July 2016.

Financial summary

·     Group revenue growth of 5.0% to £256.5m

o  Merchandise revenue growth of 2.8% to £216.4m

o  Services revenue up 18.8% to £40.1m, including Joint Venture vet practice income up 19.7% to £16.2m

·     Group like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% reflecting strong growth in first opinion and specialist referral vet services, and a continuation of positive momentum in Merchandise trading

o  Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth 1.5%

o  Services like-for-like revenue growth 10.5%

·     Merchandise price investment and operational cost savings tracking in line with plan. Profit outlook for FY18 in line with our expectations  

Operational summary

·     Good progress with Merchandise initiatives

o  Everyday lower price repositioning continues with the addition of another major Advanced Nutrition dog food brand, James Wellbeloved. This follows the positive customer response to price changes earlier in the year across veterinary diets, private label dog Advanced Nutrition, pet essentials and Hills Science Plan

o  Strong omnichannel revenue growth of 80%. Around 60% of omnichannel revenues now involve colleague assistance or the use of a Pets at Home store, through our Click & Collect, Order-In-Store and subscription services

o  Launched a second product on our licensed medicine 'Subscribe and Save' service with Frontline Plus

·     Vet Group continues to demonstrate good momentum across the business

o  Growth supported by excellent performance from specialist referral centres

o  Successful TV campaigns and promotion of our 'Best Start in Life' care plan driving high new client registrations for first opinion practices

·     Opened 5 Pets at Home superstores, 2 Vets4Pets practices and 6 Groom Room salons. On track to deliver full year opening targets of around 10 superstores, 40-50 vet practices and 40-50 grooming salons

Ian Kellett, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are pleased with our positive start to the year, delivered through another period of strong growth in our Vet Group and further momentum in Merchandise trading.

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. This underlines the importance of our store environment where customers benefit from products, services and colleague advice.

Whilst it is still early in the year, the financial outlook is in line with our expectations. We are confident the investments we are making to grow our veterinary business and to reposition our pricing and deliver everyday value for our customers are creating a strong platform for sustainable future growth." 

Conference call

A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 8.30am today.  To join the call, please dial +44 20 3059 8125 and quote 'Pets at Home'.  A recording will be available for seven days on + 44 121 260 4861 (passcode: 6791350#) and at http://investors.petsathome

Financial calendar

Pets at Home will host an investor and analyst day on 21^st September 2017.

FY18 Interims will be announced on 28^th November 2017.

Key Performance Indicators

1 Includes Barkers and Whiskers 'n Paws by Pets at Home

2 Active defined as customers who have purchased during the past twelve months

3 Average swipe rate of the card at store tills over latest quarterly period

4 Includes Food and Accessories revenue from store and online operations

5 Includes veterinary Joint Venture fees & other veterinary income, specialist referrals revenue, grooming salon revenue, revenue from live pet sales & insurance

6 'Like-for-Like' sales growth comprises total revenue in a financial period compared to revenue achieved in a prior period, for stores, online operations, grooming salons, vet practices & referral centres that have been trading for 52 weeks or more

Investor Relations Enquiries

Pets at Home Group Plc:                                                     +44 (0)161 486 6688

Amie Gramlick, Director of Investor Relations

Media Enquiries

Pets at Home Group Plc:                                                     +44 (0)161 486 6688

Brian Hudspith, Director of Corporate Affairs

Maitland:                                                                                +44 (0)20 7379 5151

Rebecca Mitchell, Tom Eckersley

About Pets at Home

Pets at Home Group Plc is the UK's leading specialist pet omnichannel retailer and services provider. Pets at Home operates from 439 superstores located across the UK. The Group operates the UK's largest small animal veterinary business with 440 practices, run principally under a Joint Venture model using the Vets4Pets and Companion Care brand names, and four veterinary specialist referral centres. Pets at Home is the UK's leading operator of pet grooming services offered through its 296 grooming salons. The Group also operates seven specialist High Street based dog stores, called Barkers. For more information visit: http://investors.petsathome.com/