Pets at Home sees steady growth in Vet services

Pets at Home Group Plc reported a modest 0.4% increase in consumer revenue to 591 mio GBP for Q1 of FY26, driven by strong performance in its Vet Group, which saw a 7.1% rise in consumer revenue. Retail revenue declined by 3.0%, reflecting ongoing market softness and the impact of operational transitions.

Despite subdued retail conditions, the company achieved sequential improvement and continued to grow its subscription base, with subscription revenue now accounting for 14.5% of consumer revenue ‒ a 40.8% year-on-year increase. The number of active Pets Club members rose to 8.1 million, and average customer value increased by 1.2%.

Digital sales returned to double-digit growth following the transition to the Stafford distribution centre, and the company launched “Pets Club Pricing” to offer exclusive deals to members. Vet capacity expansion remains on track, with two new practices and two extensions completed in Q1, alongside a 5% increase in clinical headcount.

While the company has revised its FY26 market growth expectations from 2% to around 1%, it maintains its underlying profit guidance in the range of £110–120 million, depending on retail market trends in the second half of the year.

“We have implemented the biggest change to our Retail operating model in recent history, streamlining and simplifying our management, colleague and pay structures,” says CEO Lyssa McGowan in the report. This forms a critical part of the ongoing productivity program for FY26, which remains on track.

When announcing the results for the 2025 financial year, the forecast for 2026 was based on expected growth of 2% in the pet supplies retail sector. Although this scenario assumed that growth would improve over the course of the year, market growth rates in the first quarter were below original expectations.

“Against this backdrop of a subdued market, we are pleased that we were able to improve our relative performance sequentially and continue to expect to outperform the retail market in fiscal year 2026,” the report continues.

Significant progress has been made on productivity programmes, which underpin efforts to mitigate cost pressures, and Pets at Home is sticking to its forecast of limiting operating cost growth to 5%.

Given the subdued retail growth rates to date, the Board currently expects market growth to be around 1%. Adjusted PBT is therefore expected to be in the range of £110 million to £120 million. “Where we will end up within our updated range will depend primarily on the performance of the retail market in the second half of the 2026 financial year,” McGowan explained.