Shares in Pets at Home (LSE: PETS) surged more than 3% on Wednesday morning after the UK’s leading pet care specialist published its full-year results, with investors encouraged by improving sales momentum and an upbeat outlook for the year ahead.
The stock climbed to a session high of 191p, up from a previous close of 185.2p, as markets digested what new chief executive James Bailey described as a business with “great potential” entering its “next chapter.”
The numbers themselves were mixed. Group statutory revenue fell 0.8% to £1.47bn for the 52-week period to 26 March 2026, while statutory profit before tax dropped 28.3% to £86.5m.
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Underlying pre-tax profit slid 30.2% to £92.8m, with Retail the clear weak spot — underlying profit in that division plunged 57.8% to £30.8m as price investments and margin pressure bit hard.
The dividend was rebased to 7.4p per share from 13.0p, reflecting the company’s new policy of paying out 50% of earnings.
However, the optimism stems from the direction of travel rather than the headline figures. The Retail Turnaround Plan, launched in Q3, delivered positive sales growth in the second half, with food volumes climbing 3.7% in the fourth quarter alone following price cuts on over 1,000 products. Customer satisfaction rose 4 points across Retail and 1.5 points in Vets.
The Vet Group again proved resilient, with underlying profit rising 10.4% to £83.8m and consumer revenues up 5% to £688m.
Management guided to FY27 underlying pre-tax profit of approximately £98m — ahead of the FY26 outturn — and announced a further £50m share buyback, providing an additional tailwind for the shares.
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