‘Challenging and volatile’ – Pets at Home releases trading update

Consumer spending has been described as “challenging and volatile” by the Pets at Home Group in its latest trading update.

The update, which covers the 52-week period that ended on 27 March, shows the group is expected to make a pre-tax profit of £133 million, more than half of which now comes from its portfolio of 440 veterinary practices.

And despite predicting that subdued consumer spending will continue over the next 12 months, the group confirmed plans to roll out 10 new practices and a further 15 extensions to existing sites in the next financial year.

Pets at Home also announced that it will invest £3 million in a new “capital-light” insurance proposition which will leverage the company’s consumer data and large customer base.

‘Challenging’

Lyssa McGowan, Pets at Home CEO, said: “We are making good progress in delivering our strategy of building the world’s best pet care platform, although the market remains challenging with subdued consumer confidence and the business facing significant external cost headwinds in 2025.

“Our vets business is delivering very strong growth and continuing to outperform the market, with a robust pipeline of new openings in place for the coming year leveraging our unique practice owner model. In retail, we’re confident that with our major infrastructure investments behind us, we are well placed for future growth as the short-term pressures ease and the consumer environment improves.”