Pets at Home revenue up 9.6%

British pet specialty retailer Pets at Home saw total revenue rise 9.6% to GBP729.1 million (US$1.12 billion) since a year ago, the company said.
Revenues were driven by strong performance in the advanced nutrition, health and hygiene, and VIP Club membership. The company said focus on services and omnichannel performance also helped results.
Merchandise like-for-likes rose 3.7%, while like-for-like sales of services grew 10.7%. Income from joint venture veterinary practices soared 30.7% to GBP28.2 million.
In the past year, the retailer added 25 stores, bringing its total to 400, and it opened 61 veterinary practices, bringing its total to 338.
Pets at Home added 270,000 members to its VIP Club in the fourth quarter, bringing the total number of members for the fiscal year to 3.2 million.
 “We are delighted to be delivering on expectations in our first year as a publicly listed company,” said Pets at Home chief executive Nick Wood. “We have seen strength across both merchandise and services, demonstrating the broad range of levers through which we will successfully deliver further profitable business growth.”