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PETS At Home(PETS) Fundamentals

Pets at Home Group Plc allocations

How many shares did investors receive?

Investors who applied for £1,000 of shares have been allocated 408 Shares (£999.60). Those who applied for more than £1,000 have received a maximum of 420 Shares (£1,029).

Schroders > 5%

Merrill Lynch International > 11 %

MBF Co-Invest L.P. > 8%

KKR My Best Friend Limited > 37%

Non-Executive Director Appointment

The Board of Pets at Home Group plc ("Pets at Home" or "the Company") today announces that Paul Moody has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with immediate effect.

Mr Moody, 56, brings with him a wealth of experience in FMCG and food and beverage industries, having spent seventeen years at Britvic plc, including the last eight years as Chief Executive. Mr Moody played a key role in the growth and development of the business, including the successful IPO in 2005 and rapid expansion of Britvic's brands in the UK and internationally. Since 2013, Mr Moody has been Chief Executive of Food Freshness Technology, a high tech innovations company focused on delivering comprehensive solutions for food freshness. In addition, Mr Moody currently serves on the Board of Johnson Service Group as a Non-Executive Director and will be appointed as Non-Executive Chairman from May 1st 2014.

Mr Moody has held multiple posts in the food and beverage sector and was President of British Soft Drinks Association from 2007 to 2009. Between 1987 and 1994 he worked at Pedigree Pet Foods, Mars, in various roles including latterly National Field Sales Manager, responsible for sales teams focused on Grocery, Impulse and Specialist Pet Trade.

Merrill Lynch International > 12%

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, accessories, pet-related products and services, will be issuing its preliminary results for the period ending 27th March 2014, on Thursday 12th June 2014.

This lot have been buying and still its dropping - sick as a parrot.

Chase Nominees Ltd > 4%

Chase Nominees Ltd > 5%

Nomura Buy 211.00 209.25 - 245.00 Initiates/Starts

Analyst's site visit

Final Results

Financial highlights

· Performance in line with management expectations at the time of IPO, underlying EBITDA of £110.7m, up 12.4% year-on-year
· Revenues grew 11.2% to £665.4m, reflecting store portfolio expansion and strength across food, accessories and services
· Like-for-like sales growth of 2.4%, driven by VIP Club success, strength in Advanced Nutrition, omni-channel, and the growing maturity of Groom Rooms and vet practices
· Like-for-like growth in revenues generated within the Joint Venture veterinary practices of 14.0%, underpinning fee income growth
· Underlying EBITDA margin expansion of 17bps to 16.6%, reflecting the leverage from our services business, which represents 7.6% of Group revenues (FY13: 5.3%)

Operational highlights

· 32 new stores opened during the year, taking our total store portfolio to 377
· Now the largest small animal veterinary services provider in the UK with 277 practices, reflective of 47 in-store and 22 standalone openings in the year
· Successful integration of Vets4Pets, acquired March 2013, with a single support office now established for the combined vet business
· Largest number of Groom Rooms opened in a single year; 42 new salons, bringing the portfolio to 129
· VIP Club reached 2m members at the end of FY14, 1.5m members added in the year
· Pets At Home website relaunched in January 2014, now featuring a wider range of products, fewer clicks to checkout and enhanced presentation of our pet services

A buy in this weeks IC - Store expansion, decent growth and scope for improved profitability leave Pets at Home looking like a compelling long-term growth play that's
well-placed to benefit from improving consumer conditions. Yet the shares trade on fairly undemanding 15 times forecast earnings, which fails to reflect that potential.

Pets at Home becoming "very over-spaced", says Morgan Stanley

Thu, 03 July 2014

Morgan Stanley has started coverage of Pets at Home with an 'underweight' rating, highlighting concerns that the business is "becoming very over-spaced".

"We think that Pets at Home is a solid business. Its record over the last circa 15 years is very impressive, reflecting, we believe, both an attractive customer proposition and a strong competitive position, driven by an experienced management team," the US bank said.

However, with one of the largest out-of-town store estates in the UK retail sector and its sales densities peaking in 2010, Pets at Home's categories are "vulnerable to Internet channel shift", Morgan Stanley explained.

What's more, the retailer, run by Chief Executive Nick Wood, plans to continue opening 20-25 new stores every year, which are usually on 15-year leases.

The bank also believes that the group's margins may prove to be "unsustainably high". It said that an operating profit margin of 13.4% in the most recent financial year "seems very high for a business that obtains almost 50% of sales from pet food".

The stock was given a 155p target price, representing substantial downside from Thursday morning's share price of around 203p.

Posting of Annual Report & Notice of AGM

Interim Management Statement


Summary

· Like-for-like sales growth of 4.1%, driven by VIP Club momentum, strength in Advanced Nutrition and Health & Hygiene, and continued growth of our veterinary practices and Groom Rooms

· Like-for-like revenue growth of 18.3% within the Joint Venture veterinary practices, resulting in strong fee income growth within our Services revenues

· Total revenue grew by 10.4% to £210.8m, driven by new store openings and continued strength across Food, Accessories and Services

· Merchandise revenues grew by 9.0% to £192.5m, with 8.8% growth in Food revenues and 9.2% growth in Accessories revenues

· Services revenues grew by 27.3% to £18.3m, reflecting both new openings and the developing maturity of our veterinary practices and Groom Rooms

· VIP Club reached 2.4m members, up from 2m at FY14 end

Reduction of Capital

As contemplated in the Company's IPO Prospectus dated 28 February 2014 and pursuant to a shareholder resolution passed on 27 February 2014, the Company is pleased to announce that it has completed a reduction of capital, whereby £1,080,477,000 standing to the credit of the Company's share premium account was cancelled, creating distributable reserves of an equivalent amount (the "Cancellation"). The Cancellation was formally approved by the High Court and became effective on 30 July 2014. The Cancellation has no effect on the overall net asset position of the Company.

- Ends -

Beaufort Securities Buy 187.30 182.00 - - Initiates/Starts

Trading Statement

H1 FY15 financial summary

· Like-for-like sales growth of 4.2% both in the Q2 and H1 FY15, driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, VIP Club momentum, and continued growth in fee income from our veterinary practices and Groom Rooms

· Total revenue growth of 10.2% to £381.5m

o Merchandise revenues up 8.9% to £348.3m, driven by new store openings and continued strength in Food, as well as Accessories;

o Services revenues up 27.0% to £33.2m, reflecting both new openings and the growing revenue streams from our maturing vet practices and Groom Rooms

· Strong revenue growth of 28.0%, and like-for-like revenue growth of 15.5%, within the underlying Joint Venture veterinary practices

· Gross margin improvements in line with our expectations to deliver full year Services gross margin expansion, and a modest Merchandise gross margin benefit

· VIP Club reached 2.6m members, up from 2.0m at the end of the FY14

· The Group continues to trade in line with our expectations for the full financial year


Operational summary

During the first half, we continued to execute on our growth strategy. We added 8 stores net to the portfolio; including 10 new stores, one store closure in Knutsford, and a temporary closure of our Rugby store, which will be relocated in the first half of the FY16. We opened 26 veterinary practices and 23 Groom Rooms. Of the new vet practice and Groom Room openings, 15 and 12 respectively were retrofits to existing stores. We continue to expect to deliver gross openings of at least 25 new stores, 60 new veterinary practices and 50 new Groom Room salons in the FY15.

Our loyalty scheme, VIP Club, continued to gain strong traction from engaged pet owners, adding 600,000 members in the half year to reach a total of 2.6 million. VIP card swipe rate at store tills in the second quarter represented 58% of revenues, compared with 52% at the end of the FY14.

On our website, Deliver To Store (DTS) became fully operational in the second quarter, enhancing our omnichannel shopping experience for customers. DTS allows customers to order products for pickup the following day which are not currently in stock at their local store, including the extended online only range of 3,400 SKUs, bringing the total online range to over 10,800 SKUs.

Finally back to £2.

Bought in earlier this morning skinny. I've had this on my radar for some time now. The nearest store to me is some distance away from my house, but they have a good online delivery which is free for orders over £29 and since I have two dogs it's easy for me to spend over £29!

I wont be using either the vet practice or the groom room for my two as I'm very happy with both that I use at the moment, but it's a very good idea to have these on site.

Actually, it's worth going in to the store db4 as I think they have changed somewhat since they went public. Certainly their prices have gone up and, in my opinion, the stock and the quality have gone down a little. They are local to me which is why I have used them in the past, but have since found a store called Jollyes which have opened up in competition and they look to have a far better choice of products and better prices, though it remains to be seen if the pricing is just to get customers to visit. I know that they (PETS) make good money from the veterinary franchises in the store, but not sure if that is going to be enough to prevent people looking for better value.

HARRYCAT - I had a look at Jollyes website and they didn't seem to have such a good online shopping facility as PETS. I feed my dogs either Forthglade, Natures Diet or James Wellbeloved dried dog food and there is a really good selection of that on the PETS website with prices similar to Scats where I usually shop in store.

I'm not sure how well the veterinary franchises will work. I have a vet who is very local, within walking distance of the house and as my dogs get older I find it important for my peace of mind to have a vet that has a 24 hour emergency service.

We have three cats (not my career choice) but I do love them. There is a large Pets at Home store down at the beach in Aberdeen. My wife feeds them a mixture of IAM's dried food and meat. ASDA used to beat them hands down on price on both products. Sadly ASDA have stopped selling the meat or wet products as such and no longer have the same variety of dried food. So she now uses PAH exclusively and the standard delivery is free.

On the odd occasion we visit the store it is always busy and the staff are very polite. I only mention this because ASDA are situated next door. So it would appear PAH have done there research and must be cashing in on ASDA'S reluctance to stock a full range of both products.

Interim Results

H1 FY15 financial highlights

· Total revenue growth of 10.2% to £381.5m
o Merchandise revenues up 8.9% to £348.3m, comprised of Food revenues up 9.6% to £188.7m and Accessories revenues up 8.0% to £159.6m
o Services revenues up 27.0% to £33.2m, reflecting both new openings and the growing revenue streams from our maturing vet practices and Groom Rooms

· Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth 4.2%, driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, VIP Club, growth from our vet practices and Groom Rooms, and omnichannel
o Merchandise LFL revenue growth of 3.7%
o Services LFL revenue growth of 10.2%

· Gross margin of 53.8%, +20bps on the prior year; reflecting Merchandise margin +7bps to 55.9% and strong Services margin expansion +546bps to 31.7%

· Underlying EBITDA of £58.6m (+10.8%) and margin of 15.4%, expansion of 8bps on the prior year, despite £1.4m in additional Plc operating costs

· Underlying free cashflow of £33.8m, conversion of 57.7% compared with prior year at 43.8%

· Interim dividend of 1.8p per share

H1 FY15 Operational highlights

· Added 8 stores net to the portfolio total of 385; including 10 new stores, one store closure in Knutsford, and a temporary closure of our Rugby store which will be relocated in H1 FY16

· Opened 26 veterinary practices, bringing the total portfolio to 303

· Opened 23 Groom Rooms, bringing the total portfolio to 152

· VIP Club reached 2.6m members, up from 2.0m at the end of FY14

· Wainwright's grew 54.8% to £20.5m, driven by launches of WW's Cat & Grain Free for dogs

· Refreshed 30% of total SKUs, of which over a third are own brand or private label

· Deliver To Store online offering now fully operational, which gives customers access to the extended omnichannel range of 10,800 SKUs for pickup in their local store

Outlook

The pet care market outlook remains positive. We continue to expect gross openings of around 25 stores, 60 veterinary practices and 50 Groom Room salons in FY15.

Management and the Board remain confident in the Group's prospects for the year and trading since the end of the half year period has been in line with our expectations.


Nick Wood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are pleased with our first half financial performance. We continue to deliver on our strategy to be the leading destination brand for pet lovers, with particularly strong performance from new growth areas including vets and groom rooms. Our passion for pets guides everything we do and it's a passion we share with our customers, with more than half a million joining our VIP Club during this period."

"We end the first half in a strong financial position, the business remains very cash generative and we are pleased to announce our first dividend payment. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on our successful strategy, and by doing so, we are confident that we can deliver sustainable long-term growth."

One of Shares 15 for 2015.

Despite the above have bought a few today. :0)

Shares - James Crux

Pet foods-to-accessories seller Pets At Home (PETS) could pep up portfolios in 2015 as growth on numerous fronts is expected. Increasing demand for exposure to the differentiated retailer’s resilient earnings streams and enviable cash generation should help the share price bound higher, while debt reduction could also improve sentiment towards the stock.

Despite a series of positive trading updates, Pets At Home’s shares are still languishing 18% below March’s 245p IPO price, potentially with worries over the cost of servicing debt in the event of a hike in interest rates still weighing on sentiment. Yet Shares believes a combination of burgeoning brand awareness – boosted by a return to TV advertising – as well as continued strong sales momentum and falling leverage levels will encourage investors to reappraise the company’s merits.



The pet shops play is a cash-generative market leader with 385 UK stores and compelling multi-channel expansion prospects in a resilient pet care market. Growth drivers include Pets’ new space rollout against a backcloth of a rising proportion of single-person households and couples without children, who are prepared to splash out on premium treats and advanced nutrition for cats, dogs and other small pets. Like-for-like sales momentum is positive, assisted by VIP club membership growth which engenders loyalty, boosts basket sizes and is helping Pets At Home to grab market share.

The fully-listed retailer has also grown into the biggest player in a fragmented UK small animal veterinary market and sports lucrative potential in pet grooming services. As surgeries and ‘Groom Rooms’ mature, and sales of higher margin advanced nutrition products, including own brand cat and dog food product Wainwright’s grow, there is scope for significant margin improvements which will coax analysts’ estimates higher.



Interims (4 Dec) highlighted further margin expansion and like-for-like sales growth of 4.2%, driven by strength across advanced nutrition and health and hygiene products, as well as vet practices, Groom Rooms and the web. Moreover, the business generated underlying free cash flow of £33.8 million, supporting the announcement of a first dividend payment of 1.8p per share. Supported by Pets At Home’s strong cash flow, financial risk is set to fall further in the second half of the year to March 2015, a potential catalyst for share price gains. Half-year net debt of £232.8 million represented a leverage ratio of two times underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), materially reduced from 2.3 times at the previous year-end. (JC)

Share price: 201.3p

Market cap: £1 billion

EPS Mar 2015: 13.2p

EPS Mar 2016: 14.8p

PE Mar 2015: 15.3

PE Mar 2016: 13.6

Dividend Mar 2015: 5.0p

Dividend Mar 2016: 5.6p

Prospective dividend yield Mar 2015: 2.5%

Trading Statement

Pets At Home Group Plc: Q3 FY15 Trading Statement

Another robust quarter, in line to meet expectations for FY15

Q3 FY15 financial summary

· Like-for-like revenue growth of 4.1% driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, Christmas range, VIP Club, Services and Omni-channel

o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 3.4%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 15.6%

· Total revenue growth of 7.8% to £182.2m

o Merchandise revenues up 6.5% to £168.2m, with Food continuing to grow slightly ahead of Accessories
o Services revenues up 26.0% to £14.0m

· Fee income from Joint Venture veterinary practices up 32.9% to £6.4m

· Gross margin improvement in line with guidance for FY15

· The Group continues to trade in line with expectations for the full financial year

Operational summary

During the third quarter, we opened 7 new stores, bringing gross openings in FY15 to 17 and a total portfolio of 392 stores. We have further expanded our Services footprint, opening 5 veterinary practices and 8 Groom Rooms in the quarter, bringing the total portfolios to 308 and 160 respectively. Of the 31 vet practice and 31 Groom Room openings in FY15, 17 and 14 have been retrofits to existing stores. We continue to expect gross openings of at least 25 stores, 60 veterinary practices and 50 Groom Room salons in FY15.

Our VIP club loyalty scheme continued to perform strongly and gained over 250,000 new members during the quarter to reach a total of 2.9 million. VIP card swipe rate at store tills represented 61% of revenues, compared with 57% in the first half of FY15.

Within omni-channel, we have expanded our online-only product range by nearly 800 SKUs in the quarter, bringing the total extended range to over 11,600 SKUs, an uplift of more than 4000 to those available in stores. Deliver To Store, which launched in August and allows customers to pick up the extended range in store, is growing strongly and has become a key contributor to omnichannel revenues.

We also launched additional TV advertising during the period, sponsoring 'For The Love Of Dogs', one of ITV's highest rating programmes. The Christmas special alone was watched by 5.2 million viewers.

more...

Naked Trader today- I've added some more Pets at Home (LON:PETS) after its decent statement yesterday. Already in a great profit from the ones I bought in the 170s.

New stores are opening but I especially liked the revenue increase of 26% from its joint vet practices.

Most traders shun this kind of share as they perceive it as boring but I don't see why this one shouldn't have a good year with current increases it looks worth more, and no reason why it shouldn't head back up to its float price of 250ish. It's also a nice sleep at night one.

Cheers for that DC - interesting. I will check out the NT website, haven't looked at it for ages.

Woof, woof,. lol

NT has a target of 250p.

Trying to break out from their kennels today.

Starting to look promising!

Naked Trader today -Probably star of the show surprisingly is Pets at Home! Up nearly 15% recently. Those of you who came to the seminar saw the real giant spreadbets I have in it where I am up more than £10,000.

It's reached my target but actually it looks so strong I'm staying put for now, perhaps 250 is now achievable.

241.70p - the highest since just after the float.

Liberum Capital Buy 240.90 237.60 - 275.00 Initiates/Starts

Berenberg Buy 236.60 236.40 - 290.00 Initiates/Starts

New high @255p.

A new high @255.80p.

Naked Trader-Pets at Home (LON:PETS) is still doing well and I was looking for 250 - now it is up above 260 getting even greedier and wondering about 275! Those of you who came to the seminar saw the real giant spreadbets I have in it where I am up more than £15,000.

Announcement of refinancing


Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, accessories, pet-related products and services, today announces the closing of a new financing agreement for a five year, £260m revolving credit facility. At current leverage, the facility carries a rate of LIBOR +1.5%.

The facility replaces the Group's existing £325m of drawn facilities, which at current leverage, carried a rate of LIBOR +1.9%.

The new facility is expected to reduce Group net financing expense on the income statement by approximately £2.7m per annum at current leverage. It is expected that the differential balance between the two facilities will be settled from the Group's existing cash resources. Capitalised fees associated with the previous facility will be reflected as an exceptional charge to the income statement of approximately £4.3m in FY16.

The banking syndicate for the new facility comprises 10 lenders.

Pets at Home will release its FY15 year end trading statement on 21st April 2015.

Trading Statement

Delivering on expectations for the financial year 2015

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, accessories and services, today announces a FY15 trading update for the 52 week period to 26th March 2015.

FY15 financial summary

· Like-for-like revenue growth of 4.2% driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, VIP Club, Services and Omni-channel
o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 3.7%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 10.7%

· Total revenue growth of 9.6% to £729.1m
o Merchandise revenues up 8.3% to £666.1m, with Food outperforming Accessories
o Services revenues up 25.2% to £63.0m

· Fee income from Joint Venture veterinary practices up 30.7% to £28.2m

· Underlying EBITDA for FY15 expected to be in line with market consensus*

Operational summary

· Rollout during FY15
o 25 gross store openings, bringing the total portfolio to 400
o 61 vet practice openings, of which 32 were retrofits, bringing the total portfolio to 338
o 50 Groom Room openings, of which 26 were retrofits, bringing the total portfolio to 179

· VIP club
o Total members at year end of 3.2m, adding over 270,000 in the Q4 period
o Card swipe rate at store tills represented 65% of revenues in the Q4, compared with 61% during the Q3

Since the year end, we have made our entry into specialist referral veterinary care, acquiring Northwest Surgeons based in Cheshire. Northwest Surgeons will operate as a stand-alone brand and business within our practice network.

Nick Wood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We are delighted to be delivering on expectations in our first year as a publicly listed company. We have seen strength across both merchandise and services, demonstrating the broad range of levers through which we will successfully deliver further profitable business growth."

Pampered pooches key to Pets at Home's growth

By Jonathan Jones

April 21 2015, 8:47am


Pampered pooches and precious pets pushed Pets at Home (LON:PETS) revenues higher in 2014.

New members of the ‘very important pets’ or ‘VIP’ initiative rose by 270,000 in the fourth quarter and the total number now stands at 3.2mln, more than 1.2mln more than last year.

The VIP members make up 65% of the UK pet specialist’s revenue, which rose 9.6% over the year to £729mln with like-for-like revenue more than 4% higher.

The solid results to 26 March are the first since the group listed on the London Stock Exchange twelve months ago. Since then, shares have risen 8%.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) is expected to be between £119.3mln and £121.6mln the company said.

Nick Wood, chief executive officer, said: "We are delighted to be delivering on expectations in our first year as a publicly listed company.

“We have seen strength across both merchandise and services, demonstrating the broad range of levers through which we will successfully deliver further profitable business growth."

The Group also operates the UK's largest small animal veterinary business with 338 practices, run principally under a Joint Venture model using the Companion Care and Vets4Pets brand names.

The number of new practices rose by 61 to 338, with more than half of all Pets at Home stores now including a veterinary practice.

The increase in practices meant like-for-like sales in service and other revenue, including veterinary joint venture fees, rose to £63mln from 50mln, accounting for 8.6% of total revenue.

VIP....pampered pooches!!!!!!! It seems more and more dogs are becoming replacement children for bored housewives! Sorry, that's a bit sexist, but it seems to me that some people have lost a certain amount of perspective. It's a dog......working or a pet.....but it's a dog!!!

I have VIP pampered pooches, part of the family. :-))

I look after dogs as part of my income and it never ceases to amaze me the money that owners spend on their dogs! The irony is that the dog really couldn't care less.....it's needs are fairly basic and the money being spent is purely to satisfy the needs of the owner. Still, Pets at Home are content to take advantage of that, so everyone is happy!!!....even the PETS shareholders!

Final Results

Building on success - Delivering across all strategic pillars

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, accessories and services, today announces its preliminary results for the 52 week period to 26th March 2015.

Financial highlights

· Total revenue growth of 9.6% to £729.1m
o Merchandise revenues grew 8.3% on the prior year; Food revenues up 9.8% and Accessories revenues up 6.6%
o Services revenues grew 25.2% on the prior year; fee income from Joint Venture veterinary practices up 30.7%
· Like-for-like revenue growth 4.2%, driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, VIP Club, Services and Omni-channel
o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth 3.7%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth 10.7%
· Gross margin 54.2%, +40bps on the prior year
· Underlying EBITDA* £121.3m, up 9.6%, margin of 16.6%
· Profit before tax £87.0m, basic EPS 13.5 pence
· Underlying free cashflow** £92.8m, conversion 77% and leverage 1.6x net debt/underlying EBITDA
· Total dividend payable for FY15 of 5.4 pence per share, payout ratio of 40%

Operational highlights

· Building customer offering and loyalty across multiple platforms
o VIP Club reached 3.2m members, up from 2.0m in FY14. Card swipe rate at store tills represented 65% of revenues in Q4, compared with 61% during Q3 FY15
o In Advanced Nutrition, our flagship private label Wainwright's, grew 44.1% to £40.1m
· Increasing scale through new openings
o 25 stores (gross), 61 veterinary practices, 50 Groom Rooms

Evolution to a new divisional Group structure

· Ian Kellett appointed CEO of newly created Retail Division
· Sally Hopson appointed CEO of newly created Services Division

more....

Directorate Change

Telegraph -

After the markets closed, the private equity group KKR said it was selling off a further 21.6pc stake in Pets at Home, cutting its stake by almost half. Pets at Home, which closed up 5.1p at 281p, has recovered from a rocky debut on the market in March 2014 and now trades 15pc above its float price. The rise enables KKR to sell down some of its remaining holding in the retailer, after five years as its biggest investor.

Results of Placing

Morgan Stanley note today:
"1) In FY 2014/15 Pets at Home reported its best LfL growth in five years (4.2%). To what extent was this due to an improving economic backdrop and to what extent was it due to company initiatives? How important was VIP Club in driving this growth?
2) Despite the strong LfL growth, the group generated no operating leverage in FY 2014/15 (EBITDA margins were flat at 16.6%). To some extent this lack of leverage can be explained by incurring 'PLC' costs for the first time. However there were a number of favourable tailwinds too, including higher revenue mix of (high margin) services and the retrofitting of an additional 32 vets practices (a vets practice typically pays around £40,000 per annum in rent, which is accounted for as a negative expense). Why did underlying costs grow so fast last year? How strong will LfL growth need to be in FY 2015/16 to offset cost inflation?
3) The European online petcare retailer Zooplus, which is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, is forecasting that it will deliver at least €725m of revenues this year (implying growth of at least 27%). Does Pets at Home expect Zooplus, and other online retailers, to become a threat over the next few years and if so, to what extent?
4) According to OC&C, 8.6% of UK Petcare sales are now transacted online. Pets at Home’s online sales penetration for FY 2014/15 was not disclosed in today's statement, but it was only c3% in FY 2013/14. Is Pets at Home's online sales penetration still around 3%? If so, why is it so much lower than that of the wider UK petcare market?
5) B&M management has made clear that it sees petcare as a particularly attractive category for it to target. Is management concerned that Pets at Home's unusually high gross margin (Merchandise gross margin was 56.3% in FY 2014/15) is likely to attract new competition?
6) Management guided today that it intends to open another 20-25 stores in FY 2015/16. To what length of lease will the group be committing on these stores? In modeling these stores, what assumptions are being made as to internet penetration in the UK petcare market in 5-10 years time? What assumptions are being made as to how the group's gross margin will evolve?
7) At the current rate of store expansion, the group will reach its 500 store target within the next 4-5 years. Should investors expect growth to slow at that point, or does management intend to build an international business capable of maintaining the growth rate thereafter?
8) The company is targeting reducing net debt (pre lease-adjustments) to 1.0x EBITDA. When does management anticipate reaching this target? What will the group look to do at that point?
9) According to the OC&C data shown in today's analyst presentation, the UK pet insurance market is worth more than £800m per annum. Does the group have any plans to capture a greater share of the revenue/profit stream generated by this market?
10) The company announced this morning that it is creating two divisional CEOs, one for Retail and one for Services. What was the logic behind this restructuring? Will there be big changes in organizational structure throughout the head office or will this change affect only senior management roles?"

A new high today @302.40p

Nice, company seems to be doing very well.

MIDAS-SHARE-TIPS-Dog-beer-gluten-free-cat-food-fuel-pet-fortune.

Q1 FY16 Trading Statement

Core strengths in Advanced Nutrition, Services and VIP club continue to drive growth

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, accessories, pet-related products and services, today announces a Q1 FY16 trading update for the 16 week period from 27th March 2015 to 16th July 2015.

Financial summary
· Like-for-like revenue growth of 1.7% driven by Advanced Nutrition, VIP club, Services and Omnichannel, partially offset by a poor season for Health & Hygiene products and very hot weather in July
o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 0.9%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 11.7%
· Total revenue growth of 6.4% to £224.2m
o Merchandise revenues up 4.3% to £200.7m, with Food as the significant driver
o Services revenues up 28.6% to £23.5m, with fee income from Joint Venture veterinary practices up 26.1% to £10.2m

Operational summary
· Store and services openings
o 3 Pets at Home stores, 6 veterinary practices and 4 Groom Room salons
o Barkers of Marlow: the second of our high street based premium dog store trial, which includes a grooming spa
· VIP club
o Total members now 3.6m, an increase of over 400,000 since FY15 year end
o Card swipe rate at store tills 67% of revenues, compared with 65% in Q4 FY15
· Trading and integration of Northwest Surgeons, our recently acquired specialist veterinary referral hospital, is progressing ahead of expectations
· The popularity of customers placing website orders for collection in-store has been maintained at over 40% of online revenues

StockMarketWire.com
Pets at Home said total revenue grew 6.0% to GBP404.5m in H1, with contributions from services and veterinary practices up 26.2% to GBP41.9m and up 20.7% to GBP18.4m respectively. Merchandise revenue gained a more muted 4.1% to GBP362.6m.

CEO Nick Wood commented:
"We remain pleased with the growth of Advanced Nutrition, vet and grooming services during the first half of the financial year, supported by growing maturity in the VIP loyalty scheme.

"Whilst trading in parts of the business has been weaker than expected, the core strategic drivers are performing well and in order to support their growth, we continue to invest in our colleagues and seamless shopping experience.

"As we highlighted previously, profit growth will be weighted to the second half, as the strong Health & Hygiene comparatives ease. Our full year profit outlook is broadly in line with market expectations."

What do you expect share price to do......
From a share that has been rump by Midas
Director selling 3 weeks before update - 118K
Institution selling the big stake that was holding
Market cap twice the revenue
Group gross margin 54.2%
Historic PE well above 20.........
Share price down of course 290.85p -20.35 (-6.54%)

Reasonable support @ 265p, Needs to get a wriggle on to get back above 200DMA. Interim next Tuesday 24th. Watching, could go either way.

Half Yearly Report

H1 FY16 financial highlights

· Total revenue growth of 6.0% to £404.5m
o Merchandise revenues up 4.1% to £362.6m: Food revenues up 7.1% to £202.1m, with Advanced Nutrition growing 13.7% to £85.8m. Accessories revenues up 0.6% to £160.5m, offset by continuing challenge to Health & Hygiene product sales
o Services revenues up 26.2% to £41.9m, reflecting growth in both mature and maturing vets and groomers, and good performance from Northwest Surgeons, our specialist referral hospital acquired at the start of the financial year

· Like-for-like sales growth of 1.8%
o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 1.0%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 10.5%

· Gross margin of 54.1%, +27bps on the prior year; reflecting strong margin expansion in both Merchandise and Services

· EBITDA growth of 5.1% to £60.7m and margin 15.0%

· Basic EPS of 7.2 pence, growth of 13.4%

· Free cashflow of £29.5m, conversion of 47%, compared with the prior year at 38%

· Interim dividend of 2.0p per share, growth of 11.1%

H1 FY16 operational highlights

· Space rollout on track
o Added 6 Pets at Home stores: total 405
o 2 Barkers stores, bringing the trial format to a total of 3
o Opened 15 veterinary practices: total 353
o Opened 10 grooming salons: total 190

· VIP Club reached 3.9m members, up from 3.2m at the end of FY15

· Website orders for collection in-store increased to over 45% of total online revenues

Trading Statement

Q3 FY16 financial summary

· Like-for-like sales (LFL) growth of 2.2%*
o Merchandise LFL growth of 1.7%*, with strength in Advanced Nutrition, omnichannel and recovering sales in Health & Hygiene
o Services LFL growth of 8.5%*, driven by strong performance in vet and grooming services
· Total revenue growth of 7.1% to £195.1m
o Merchandise revenues up 5.4% to £177.3m
o Services revenues up 27.4% to £17.8m, with fee income from Joint Venture veterinary practices up 16.3% to £7.5m
· Financial outlook for FY16 remains in line with current expectations

*Q3 FY16 benefits from one fewer bank holiday than the prior year, closing on New Years Eve, compared with Q3 FY15 which closed on New Years Day when the majority of stores are closed. Our LFL growth calculation removes this benefit and compares the 12 weeks from 9 Oct 2015 to 31 Dec 2015, with the 12 weeks from 9 Oct 2014 to 31 Dec 2014

Q3 FY16 operational summary

· Store and services openings
o 7 Pets at Home superstores
o One Barkers store in Sevenoaks, Kent
o Launch of a trial format in Dorking, branded 'Whiskers 'n Paws by Pets at Home.' A local High Street store focused on dog and cat owners, with a Groom Room salon
o 15 grooming salons and 6 veterinary practices
o On track to deliver FY16 rollout targets: 20-25 Pets at Home stores, 5 Barkers, 50-55 vet practices and 55-60 grooming salons
· VIP club
o Total members of 4.2m, an increase of over 250,000 since Q2 FY16
o Card swipe rate at store tills 64% of revenues, compared with 61% in the prior year
· Post period end, acquired Anderson Moores, a specialist veterinary referral hospital based in Winchester, Hampshire. Anderson Moores will operate as a standalone brand in the Vet Group, as a shared venture model through which the existing shareholders retain significant equity ownership

Final Results

Pets at Home Group Plc: Q1 FY17 Trading Statement

A solid start to the year with continued momentum across all strategic categories

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, pet accessories, veterinary and grooming services, today announces a Q1 FY17 trading update. This represents the 16 week period from 1st April 2016 to 21st July 2016, compared with the 16 week period from 27th March 2015 to 16th July 2015.

Financial summary

· Group like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% driven by Advanced Nutrition, omnichannel, vet and grooming services, alongside a return to positive sales growth in Health & Hygiene products
o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth 2.2%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth 7.5%

· Total revenue growth of 8.9% to £244.2m
o Merchandise revenues up 4.9% to £210.5m
o Services revenues up 43.4% to £33.7m, reflecting Joint Venture vet practice fee income up 22.5% to £12.4m and the contribution from newly acquired specialist referral centres

Operational summary

· Opened 4 Pets at Home stores, 3 Vets4Pets practices and 6 Groom Room salons

· VIP club active members 3.5m, an increase of around 200,000 since FY16 year end. Card swipe rate at store tills 65% of revenues, compared with 64% in Q4 FY16

· Launched a monthly subscription service for flea treatment products

· VIP App now live, removing the need for customers to carry their VIP card

Ian Kellett, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are pleased with our positive start to the year, delivered through consistent performance in our core strengths of Advanced Nutrition, vet and grooming services, with a continued underpin from the growth in sales to our VIP members.
Whilst the consumer outlook is uncertain, we remain confident in our long term strategy and are reassured by the historical resilience of the pet market in times of economic downturn.
Our full year outlook remains in-line with market expectations."

On watch list, looking for a bounce here. AGM/EGM Wed 14/09/16

LATEST BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker New target Recomm.
5 Aug HSBC 295.00 Buy
4 Aug Liberum Capital 200.00 Sell
5 Jul Liberum Capital 200.00 Sell
27 May Beaufort... N/A Buy
24 May HSBC 340.00 Buy
12 May Panmure Gordon 271.00 Buy
3 May Beaufort... N/A Buy
22 Apr Beaufort... N/A Buy
19 Apr HSBC 340.00 Buy
13 Apr HSBC 340.00 Buy
Broker Recommendations for Pets At Home Group

LATEST BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker New target Recomm.
12 Sep Citigroup 275.00 Buy
5 Aug HSBC 295.00 Buy
4 Aug Liberum Capital 200.00 Sell
5 Jul Liberum Capital 200.00 Sell
27 May Beaufort... N/A Buy
24 May HSBC 340.00 Buy
12 May Panmure Gordon 271.00 Buy
3 May Beaufort... N/A Buy
22 Apr Beaufort... N/A Buy
19 Apr HSBC 340.00 Buy

Appointment of Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, accessories and services, today announces that Numis Securities Limited has been appointed Joint Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker alongside Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with immediate effect.

Half Yearly report

· Robust Group LFL revenue growth of 2.5%
· Good performance in strategic drivers: fee income from Joint Venture vet practices up 23.6%, Services LFL growth 8.7%, Advanced Nutrition revenue growth 6.5%
· Space rollout on track: 8 new superstores, 17 vet practices and 18 grooming salons. 49% of superstores now have both a vet practice and grooming salon
· Seamless shopping omnichannel investment delivering results with order volumes and basket spend increasing
· Strong dividend growth of 25.0%, in line with our increased dividend payment policy which commenced at FY16 year end

Goldman Sachs Neutral 0.00 275.00 235.00 Downgrades

Trading Statement

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 1st April to 21st 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 21st September 2017.
FY18 Interims will be announced on 28th November 2017.

Beaufort Securities Buy 190.85 - - Retains

Berenberg Buy 195.50 180.00 230.00 Upgrades

Q3 FY18 trading statement.

Pets at Home Group Plc ("Pets at Home") today announces a scheduled trading update for the 12 week period from 13th October 2017 to 4th January 2018, compared with the 12 week period from 14th October 2016 to 5th January 2017

Financial summary

· Group revenue growth of 9.6% to £223.3m

o Merchandise revenue growth of 9.0% to £193.4m, including omnichannel revenue up 77% to £13m

o Services revenue growth of 13.6% to £29.9m, including Joint Venture vet practice income up 19.3% to £12.1m

· Group like-for-like revenue growth of 7.2%

o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 6.8%, with good performance in store sales, as well as from omnichannel initiatives - Order In-Store and subscription

o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 10.1%, reflecting strong growth in first opinion and specialist referral vet services

· All financial guidance*, including gross margin expectations, is unchanged

* Refers to financial guidance before exceptional items

Operational summary

· Excellent progress in Merchandise trading, where price repositioning has continued with the addition of further major brands in both dog and cat Advanced Nutrition

· New checkout process launched on the mobile website, delivering significantly improved online conversion and customer experience

· First Opinion vet practices delivering strong growth across both new and mature surgeries

· Opened two Pets at Home superstores, two Vets4Pets practices and five Groom Room salons. On track to deliver full year opening targets of around 10 superstores, 40-50 vet practices and 20-30 grooming salons

· The Barkers store trial has reached its conclusion. Existing stores will be closed over the coming year and exceptional costs of c£2m are expected in the FY18 income statement in relation to lease commitments and the write down of fixed assets

Ian Kellett, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"I'm happy to report further progress in the third quarter, where trading momentum in our Merchandise division built over the Christmas period. In the year since we launched our lower pricing initiatives we have seen a really strong customer response to the investments we have made. At the same time, we continued to deliver strong growth in our veterinary business across both first opinion practices and specialist referral centres. Thanks again to colleagues across the Group who worked incredibly hard to deliver this result.

We again saw the benefits of our omnichannel capabilities, providing customers with innovative and convenient ways to shop, particularly through Order In-Store and subscription services. This unique combination of capabilities are brought to life by our store colleagues who provide the friendly expertise, advice and service that our customers really value."

more.....

KKR & CO. L.P. 0%

sold when shorts started , will stay out. bb

Q1 Trading Statement

Pets at Home Group Plc: Q1 FY19 Trading Statement
A good start - on track to deliver our plan for the year



Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading pet care business, today announces a scheduled trading update for the 16 week period from 30th March to 19th July 2018, compared with the 16 week period from 31st March to 20th July 2017.

Financial summary

· Group revenue growth of 8.1% to £277.4m

o Retail1 revenue growth up 6.9% to £245.0m, including omnichannel revenue up 47.3% to £19.1m

o Vet Group2 revenue up 18.4% to £32.4m, including Joint Venture vet practice income up 19.9% to £19.4m where mature practices are growing ahead of the market and our naturally fast growing younger practices are performing in line with our expectations

· Group like-for-like revenue growth of 6.1%

o Retail like-for-like revenue growth 5.3%

o Vet Group like-for-like revenue growth 13.6%

· H1 FY19 financial guidance points:

o Group gross margin dilution for the full year remains unchanged at (75-125) bps. Margin dilution will be greater in the first half, reflecting price investment phasing

o As part of our ongoing investment appraisal of new stores, we have decided not to proceed with the opening of two stores for which lease arrangements had been committed. The full cost of the leases, at c£1.6m, will be absorbed within underlying profit in the first half

· Full year profit and cashflow outlook remains in line with our expectations and guidance3

more.....

Price cuts mean Pets at Home can purr once again

Interim Financial Results

Becoming the leading pet care specialist and returning to sustainable cashflow growth: interim financial results, strategic update and veterinary business review



· UK pet care market remains resilient, growing at c3-4%

· Pets at Home unique strategy winning with customers

o Retail business H1 FY19 LFL growth of 4.7%#, taking market share

o Vet practice H1 FY19 customer revenues growing at 15.4%

· New strategy to become a complete pet care company

· Taking action in our vet business to release cash profits and deliver more sustainable growth

· Building the right leadership team to deliver, having recently appointed our Chief Data Officer, COO of Retail and CEO of the First Opinion vet business to our Executive Management Team

· Group focus is to deliver sustainable free cashflow growth

Comment from Peter Pritchard, Group Chief Executive Officer

"Since becoming the Group CEO in May, I have had the opportunity to take stock of the wider group and shape my view of our future. What I have found fills me with confidence. Pets at Home is a healthy business and customers are loving what we do; responding to our price repositioning, investment in digital and the amazing service delivered by our vet partners. We have the ability to offer almost everything a pet owner needs, giving us opportunities our competitors simply don't have. Which is why my vision is to develop a complete pet care company, uniting our retail and vet businesses.

Reviewing our Vet Group has been a priority. I recognise we have grown at pace and more recently, have seen the pressure that rising costs and our fees are placing on this young business. We will need to recalibrate the business to deliver more measured growth, whilst maintaining our plan to generate significant cash profits.

We are focused on maximising our unique assets and delivering a plan for sustainable cashflow and profit growth. Given the success of the changes we have made in Retail, I'm confident we can do this."

First Opinion vet business review: recalibrating the business to deliver sustainable returns

We have completed a review of the First Opinion vet business, in recognition that the business' environment has evolved. Our findings have confirmed we are operating in a market growing at c5%, customer revenue growth is strong and we have a unique business model through shared ownership with Joint Venture Partners (JVPs). We also recognise the increasing cost pressures, including fees charged by Pets at Home, that certain practices are experiencing. We are taking action to put our business on a stronger long term footing and deliver significant cashflow.

We have 471 practices, of which the majority have already achieved, or are expected to remain on track to reach maturity. With our JV practices, we plan to rebalance and simplify the fee structure, to allow practices to mature more swiftly and generate returns for both Pets at Home and JVPs. We will also offer to buy back and consolidate up to 55 practices from JVPs. Around 25 of these will be operated as company managed practices, whilst we will consider the options for the remainder, which may result in us proposing to close them. For all practices which we offer to buy back, JVPs will not be expected to repay outstanding borrowings to any parties and Pets at Home will settle any liabilities for third party bank loans and leases on behalf of the JVP. We expect this to result in total non-underlying income statement costs of up to £49m and non-underlying cash costs of up to £27m.

Impact of future vet business actions on the interim financial statements

For practices which we will offer to buy back from JVPs, fee income has not been recognised within Vet Group revenue. A non-underlying charge of £29.0m has been recognised against Vet Group, and Group, gross profit to provide for the balance of funding provided by Pets at Home, guaranteed bank and lease obligations, and the cost of additional operating cash outflows forecast to be incurred by the Group through to buy-out. Further costs, including closure costs if we decide to close practices, are expected to be provided during H2 FY19 and FY20.

more.....

Still heavily shorted at a little over 12% declared interest.

Trading Statement

Pets at Home Group Plc: Q3 FY19 Trading Statement
A strong quarter - on track to deliver our full year forecast

Pets at Home Group Plc, the UK's leading pet care business, today announces a scheduled trading update for the 12 week period from 12th October 2018 to 3rd January 2019, compared with the 12 week period from 13th October 2017 to 4th January 2018.

Financial summary

· Group revenue growth of 6.3% to £237.2m

o Retail revenue up 5.5% to £213.4m, including omnichannel1 revenue up 41.5% to £19.0m

o Vet Group revenue up 13.6% to £23.8m, including Joint Venture (JV) fee income up 2.5% to £12.4m. On a cash basis, JV fee income grew 9.3% to £13.2m; the difference resulting from non recognition of fee income for the 55 practices we intend to buyback from Joint Venture Partners (JVPs)

· Group like-for-like2 revenue growth of 5.1%

o Retail like-for-like revenue growth of 4.7%

o Vet Group like-for-like revenue growth3 of 9.1%

· FY19 results remain in line with our expectations and financial guidance4 reiterated:

o Group underlying PBT of £80-85m and underlying free cashflow of at least £55m

o Non-underlying income statement charge of up to £42m, including a cash charge of up to £13m relating to the Vet Group recalibration

o As we approach our financial year end and monitor the Brexit process, we may consider increasing our inventory holding by up to £8m

Strategic highlights

· UK pet care market remains resilient and the strength of our proposition means we continue to take share in the retail (in-store and online) and vet markets

· Customer KPIs continue to improve: VIP member visit frequency and spend is up and the number of VIPs who purchase products and a service has grown 16% y/y

· Retail price position remains competitive and the majority of price investment is complete

· Continued growth in revenue from pet care services5, with associated growth in the number of subscription customers6 to over 670,000

· Progress made across our Vet Group: customer revenue growth across all Joint Venture practices remains solid at 11.9% and we believe mature practices continue to grow ahead of the market. Our wider Vet Group recalibration is making progress and is on track

Peter Pritchard, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Momentum in Retail accelerated over the festive period, culminating in the biggest trading day of our entire history on the Saturday before Christmas. Our omnichannel business delivered exceptional performance, benefitting from investments made earlier in the year, including a new mobile website. This resulted in 4.7% like-for-like growth in Retail, an impressive 11% growth on a two year basis. In such a challenging climate, this performance was only made possible through the hard work of our colleagues across the business.

We saw good customer revenue growth across our entire Vet Group. In November, we reiterated the big opportunity to accelerate the maturity of our vet practices, but this needs to be achieved in a more sustainable way. As such, I am particularly pleased with how the recalibration of the Vet Group is taking shape; the engagement from JVPs has been positive and we have made good progress in our discussions with buyback practices.

We also celebrated another milestone as we reached £10m raised for national and local animal charities through our VIP loyalty club since its launch in 2012, another fantastic achievement.

We are working closely across the Group to maximise our assets and data as a pet care business, delivering initiatives that are resulting in an even better experience for customers. With the Executive Team appointments now complete, I know that we enter 2019 with growing momentum and we are well placed to deliver on our plans and commitments."

Conference call

A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 8.45am today. To join the call, please dial +44 (0)330 336 9411 and use the participant access code 5163187. A recording will be available at http://investors.petsathome.com/

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