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Pets At Home Group PLC on Wednesday said its third quarter was in line with expectations, and it expects its annual outcome to meet consensus. Shares in Pets At Home were up 5.0% at 209.20 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. It was among the best FTSE 250 performers. The operator of pet care centres and veterinary practices said statutory revenue in the 12 weeks to January 1 was down 1.0% on-year to £358 million, falling 0.7% on a like-for-like basis. Consumer revenue, which includes joint-ventures, edged up 0.8% to £472 million. All-in-all, the Cheshire, England-based firm said the third quarter outturn ‘fell within the range of our expectations’. It expects annual underlying pretax profit in line with consensus of £93 million, which would represent a decline from the £133.0 million achieved in financial 2025. During the quarter, vet group consumer revenue was up 5.0%, though retail consumer revenue was down 1.1%. The latter saw a ‘sequential improvement’, however. Interim Executive Chair Ian Burke said: ‘I’m pleased to report continued strong performance in our vet business and sequential improvement in retail, as we continue to implement our retail turnaround plan. One of our key early actions as part of this plan included investing in our customer offer, reducing the price of over 1,000 products by an average of 12%, ensuring our customers know they can trust us to provide great value for them and their pets.’ Pets At Home Group last month named former Waitrose Ltd managing director James Bailey as its new chief executive officer. Former CEO Lyssa McGowan stepped down in September, which coincided with a profit warning issued by the company. Sarah Pollard will join as chief financial officer designate on March 23. Current CFO Mike Iddon will step down from the board on March 27, when Pollard will succeed him as CFO. ‘With a new CEO and CFO joining in spring, our focus for the remainder of the year is on building momentum behind our four turnaround plan priorities of price, product, cost and execution, to deliver our financial 2026 plan and to return our retail business to sustainable sales and profit growth,’ Burke said. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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