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PETS At Home(PETS) Fundamentals

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."