Retail sales have dipped at the Pets at Home Group, but the company maintains that its turnaround plan is on track in its latest results announcement.
Preliminary results for the 52-week period ended March 26, 2026, show retail sales values down 1% at £1.29bn. The company maintains that its new strategy, which included reducing prices on over 1,000 food products by an average of 12%, has driven “better momentum” in the second half of the year, with food volumes growing by 3.7% in the fourth quarter.
Investment in price has contributed to a fall in retail profitability, with profits in this sector down 57.8% year on year to £30.8m.
The company’s veterinary group continues to grow, with sales up 5% to £688m and underlying profit up by 10.4%. Overall, total group revenue was down 0.8% with statutory pre-tax profit down 28.3% to £86.5m.
A company statement said that the retail turnaround plan: “has brought clear focus and seen growth improve sequentially and we are confident these are the right priorities for the business in the near term. We finished the year with better momentum, delivering in line with our plan. While there is more we need to do, progress is being made in all areas.”
Additional pillars of the plan include the launch of new products, such as own-brand ranges Ruff’s Recipes and Willows, and improvements in product availability and promotional clarity.
Further developments for 2026 include the launch of a dedicated pet insurance product, which has achieved Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval while the company is making “good progress” building the required technology infrastructure, according to the statement.
Recently-appointed chief executive officer James Bailey said: “Pets at Home is a business with many strengths, a strong shared purpose and great potential and I am excited to lead it through its next chapter.
“We are the clear leader in the growing UK pet care market with a unique set of highly complementary businesses. We have considerable, sustainable competitive advantages including our unrivalled reach through our 460 pet care centres, our sector leading Vet business, our large and loyal customer base and well invested infrastructure.
“Material progress has been made over the past six months stabilising the Retail business, delivering improved satisfaction and better availability. We have the opportunity now to build momentum through profitable volume-led growth in Retail while continuing to execute the proven growth levers of our Vet business and launch our Insurance offering.”
