Overview
- Group underlying profit before tax fell 33.5% to £36.2m for the 28 weeks to 9 October, driven by an 84.1% plunge in retail profit to £3.5m.
- Retail revenue declined 2.3% to £679.9m as discounting, product mix and lower supplier income pressured margins, while online gains only partly offset weaker store sales.
- Veterinary services remained robust with revenue up 6.7% to about £376m and underlying profit up 8.3% to roughly £45m, reinforcing the division as the group’s profit engine.
- Management launched a turnaround centred on product, price, execution and cost, targeting about £20m in overhead reductions and extending a ‘leaner store operating model.’
- Pets at Home proposed a support-office restructure with a one-off cost of £6m–£8m and continued the CEO search, kept full-year profit guidance at £90m–£100m, and saw shares rise around 4%–5% on the update.