Pets at Home has reported a decrease in profits due to short-term availability issues and weak sales of certain accessories.
But the petcare retailer and veterinary operator remains confident in its growth strategy and is "not threatened" by an ongoing review into the vet industry by the watchdog. The company's shares saw a slight increase on Wednesday morning.
The Cheshire-based firm announced a pre-tax profit of £105.7m for the year ending in March, a 13.7% decrease compared to the same period last year. The company attributed the dip in profitability to being "impacted by short-term availability issues as we transitioned to our new DC (distribution centre) and weaker performance of discretionary accessories".
This follows the group's decision to cut its profit guidance in January due to slowing retail demand. However, Pets at Home reported that total group revenues increased by 5.2% to £1.5bn for the year, with a like-for-like growth of 5.1%.
Retail revenues for the period grew by 4%, with continued volume growth in the final quarter helping to offset slowing inflation in food and "softer" accessories sales. The company also reported continued growth in its vet business, where revenues increased by 16.8% due to the division's ongoing expansion.
However, this comes against a backdrop of increased scrutiny over the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's vet sector. The Competition and Markets Authority has raised concerns that pet owners could be overpaying for medicines and has proceeded with a full market investigation.
Pets at Home has confidently stated: "We believe that our vets growth strategy is not threatened by the CMA's review into the vet sector."
The company added: "Our key building blocks for growth support competition and deliver better outcomes for consumers."
Despite a challenging environment, the group has maintained its guidance for the new financial year, citing "low single-digit" growth in its veterinary business over the past six weeks, alongside a 2% dip in retail.
CEO Lyssa McGowan said: "Full-year 2024 has been a pivotal year for the business, having delivered some key building blocks of our platform for long-term growth."
"I am proud of the progress we have made in the year; we relaunched our brand, opened our new DC, built our new digital platform, made progress in our sustainability agenda, and enhanced our physical estate.
"The business has come together brilliantly to navigate any challenges faced this year, and we have delivered some key milestones of our strategy."
