Pets At Home Share Discussion Threads

[skinny] 21/1/2015 07:04

Pets At Home Group Plc: Q3 FY15 Trading Statement

Another robust quarter, in line to meet expectations for FY15

Q3 FY15 financial summary

· Like-for-like revenue growth of 4.1% driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, Christmas range, VIP Club, Services and Omni-channel

o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 3.4%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 15.6%

· Total revenue growth of 7.8% to £182.2m

o Merchandise revenues up 6.5% to £168.2m, with Food continuing to grow slightly ahead of Accessories
o Services revenues up 26.0% to £14.0m

· Fee income from Joint Venture veterinary practices up 32.9% to £6.4m

· Gross margin improvement in line with guidance for FY15

· The Group continues to trade in line with expectations for the full financial year

Operational summary

During the third quarter, we opened 7 new stores, bringing gross openings in FY15 to 17 and a total portfolio of 392 stores. We have further expanded our Services footprint, opening 5 veterinary practices and 8 Groom Rooms in the quarter, bringing the total portfolios to 308 and 160 respectively. Of the 31 vet practice and 31 Groom Room openings in FY15, 17 and 14 have been retrofits to existing stores. We continue to expect gross openings of at least 25 stores, 60 veterinary practices and 50 Groom Room salons in FY15.

Our VIP club loyalty scheme continued to perform strongly and gained over 250,000 new members during the quarter to reach a total of 2.9 million. VIP card swipe rate at store tills represented 61% of revenues, compared with 57% in the first half of FY15.

Within omni-channel, we have expanded our online-only product range by nearly 800 SKUs in the quarter, bringing the total extended range to over 11,600 SKUs, an uplift of more than 4000 to those available in stores. Deliver To Store, which launched in August and allows customers to pick up the extended range in store, is growing strongly and has become a key contributor to omnichannel revenues.

We also launched additional TV advertising during the period, sponsoring 'For The Love Of Dogs', one of ITV's highest rating programmes. The Christmas special alone was watched by 5.2 million viewers.

more...

[brokertobroker] 20/1/2015 14:48

looks like one of the best "bull flags" I have seen on the charts in a while.....

BUY

[gargleblaster] 20/1/2015 13:08

If its tomorrow then it is interesting (fairly) that the order book is improving/well supported by buyers. Perhaps anticipation of good news coming?

[hibberts] 20/1/2015 11:20

I think its tomorrow.

[crystball] 20/1/2015 11:08

All my research points to a steadily growing business. I think after a period of consolidation in the share price around 200p, we are ready for the next leg up. Not sure when the next trading update is. Anyone know?

[crystball] 06/1/2015 10:40

Bought some this morning. Adding PETS will certainly diversify my portfolio.

[hutch_pod] 29/12/2014 13:10

thanks manics. The tips are flowing. What to buy?? ;)

[fruitninja84] 22/12/2014 15:44

You forgot to say a big LOL hvs...

[farmsted] 22/12/2014 15:04

Don't Panic I think the Vets are all on holiday, someone has leaked the takings for last week, a load of Poo !!

[fruitninja84] 22/12/2014 09:09

Just fear imo , Made a killing buying up panic! Will look to take a small position here. Missed my chance just now.

[farmsted] 22/12/2014 09:05

Whats happening, have the budgies flown or have pet owners stopped buying Christmas presents ????

[farmsted] 15/12/2014 09:59

Good report in the IC but still 15% down on the issue price, heres hoping for a Whoffing Christmas

[skinny] 04/12/2014 07:02

H1 FY15 financial highlights

· Total revenue growth of 10.2% to £381.5m
o Merchandise revenues up 8.9% to £348.3m, comprised of Food revenues up 9.6% to £188.7m and Accessories revenues up 8.0% to £159.6m
o Services revenues up 27.0% to £33.2m, reflecting both new openings and the growing revenue streams from our maturing vet practices and Groom Rooms

· Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth 4.2%, driven by strength in Advanced Nutrition, Health & Hygiene, VIP Club, growth from our vet practices and Groom Rooms, and omnichannel
o Merchandise LFL revenue growth of 3.7%
o Services LFL revenue growth of 10.2%

· Gross margin of 53.8%, +20bps on the prior year; reflecting Merchandise margin +7bps to 55.9% and strong Services margin expansion +546bps to 31.7%

· Underlying EBITDA of £58.6m (+10.8%) and margin of 15.4%, expansion of 8bps on the prior year, despite £1.4m in additional Plc operating costs

· Underlying free cashflow of £33.8m, conversion of 57.7% compared with prior year at 43.8%

· Interim dividend of 1.8p per share

H1 FY15 Operational highlights

· Added 8 stores net to the portfolio total of 385; including 10 new stores, one store closure in Knutsford, and a temporary closure of our Rugby store which will be relocated in H1 FY16

· Opened 26 veterinary practices, bringing the total portfolio to 303

· Opened 23 Groom Rooms, bringing the total portfolio to 152

· VIP Club reached 2.6m members, up from 2.0m at the end of FY14

· Wainwright's grew 54.8% to £20.5m, driven by launches of WW's Cat & Grain Free for dogs

· Refreshed 30% of total SKUs, of which over a third are own brand or private label

· Deliver To Store online offering now fully operational, which gives customers access to the extended omnichannel range of 10,800 SKUs for pickup in their local store

Outlook

The pet care market outlook remains positive. We continue to expect gross openings of around 25 stores, 60 veterinary practices and 50 Groom Room salons in FY15.

Management and the Board remain confident in the Group's prospects for the year and trading since the end of the half year period has been in line with our expectations.


Nick Wood, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are pleased with our first half financial performance. We continue to deliver on our strategy to be the leading destination brand for pet lovers, with particularly strong performance from new growth areas including vets and groom rooms. Our passion for pets guides everything we do and it's a passion we share with our customers, with more than half a million joining our VIP Club during this period."

"We end the first half in a strong financial position, the business remains very cash generative and we are pleased to announce our first dividend payment. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on our successful strategy, and by doing so, we are confident that we can deliver sustainable long-term growth."

[thewheeliedealer] 17/11/2014 16:28

Hi,I was in Portsmouth yesterday and whilst driving through Milton I noticed a standalone Vets4Pets on the corner. I did not realise they had standalone outlets - I thought they were all in the Huge Sheds of PETS. This is very nice to see and opens up a lot more opportunity - and hopefully plenty of cross selling of Grooming Stations and suchlike.

By the way, I just posted a NEW BLOG on OPAY Technical Analysis Part2 on my website. Covers Candlesticks with a simple (ish) explanation and Hammers and Dragonfly Dojis. Also bit on Support Levels and Volume.

Hope you like it,wd

[hutch_pod] 08/11/2014 13:08

This might have been the tip. Woof woof

[doodlebug4] 07/11/2014 12:29

Bought in earlier this morning. Good online delivery service which is free for orders over £29 and with two hungry dogs in my house it's very easy to spend £29!

[hutch_pod] 07/11/2014 11:12

yeah. It's kind of hard to understand. Looked to me like Q2 revenue dipped a bit too. Guess overall looks well on target for full year targets. And now has decent momentum

[tyranosaurus] 07/11/2014 10:27

Wow. I didn`t expect these to reach £2 for ages.
Don`t understand todays rise unless they are tipped somewhere.

[hvs] 31/10/2014 16:06

Its a DOG of a share.

Woof woof.

Give us a bone.

[mrmark01] 30/10/2014 22:53

Naked Trader gives it the thumbs up in this weeks blog...

[hutch_pod] 29/10/2014 12:41

Q1 2015 revenue was £210.8m, and H1 2015 showing as £381.5m. Which on the surface seems that revenue slowed by 19% ish between quarters? I thought this might be due to store closures, as the RNS mentions like for like growth between quarters of 4.1%, but not sure now.

Strong bounce recently..!