By Echha Jain and Radhika Anilkumar
(Reuters) – Britain’s Pets At Home aims to boost sales of pet accessories this year, it said on Wednesday, adding that it expected no impact on its growth plans from a UK sector probe of the veterinary service launched last week.
The UK’s second-largest veterinary care provider also reported a 3.2% fall in underlying pre-tax profit for the year ended March 28 to 132 million pounds ($168 million), in line with analyst forecasts.
Its shares rose 2.3% in morning trade.
Pet owners have held back on spending on luxury items like luxury toys, hurting Pets At Home’s performance, something the company said it aims to address.
“We plan to return accessories to growth by driving premiumization, leveraging exclusive licenses and tie-ups, and creating touchpoints at key events,” it said in a statement.
It also announced a 25 million pound buyback program for this fiscal year.
The pet supplies retailer, which also offers grooming and veterinary services, flagged weak trading in the first six weeks of the current financial year but reiterated it expected a 9% income growth.
“Pets At Home remains in a stronger position than the average retailer,” wrote Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, in a client note.
The company said its growth strategy was not threatened by an investigation into the vet sector launched by the Competition and Markets Authority last week.
Its shares have fallen about 25% since the competition regulator began a review of the veterinary industry in September.
($1 = 0.7837 pounds)
(Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Savio D’Souza, Subhranshu Sahu and Jason Neely)
