Pets At Home to deliver full-year as guided, signals further buybacks

Pets At Home Group PLC on Tuesday said it will announce full-year results in line with previous guidance, and that it will change its shareholders return policy.

The Cheshire, England-based operator of pet care centres and veterinary practices said underlying pretax profit for the financial year ended on March 26 is expected to be around £92 million, in line with previous guidance but below £133.0 million of financial 2025.

Both the full-year results and the shareholders return policy changes will be announced on May 27.

The company also said that it will rebalance its return to shareholders after ‘extensive’ consultations with its investors. The total amount returned to shareholders will not change, but the dividend payout ratio will be rebased to 50%, and the undistributed cash will be returned via a buyback programme.

It signalled a continuation of the company’s share buyback programmes, after repurchasing about £150 million in shares in the past four years.

Shares in Pets At Home were up 5.3% at 187.80 pence each on Monday morning in London.

The company added that the retail turnaround plan is on track across its priority areas, and that it saved £20 million in overhead costs despite incurring £7 million of non-underlying costs during the year.

‘While the benefits of many initiatives still lie ahead of us, we are encouraged by the progress made,’ Pets At Home said.

Additionally, the company saw volume growth in its Retail business during the second half of the year, delivering like-for-like sales growth as guided, with the fourth quarter improving over the third.

The Retail division will deliver pretax profit of around £30 million in financial 2026. It was £72.9 the year prior.

Pets At Home hailed the Vet Group business result, noting ‘a further year of strong profit progress despite the expected slowdown in sales growth as our customer cohorts reach a typical lull in activity’.

The Vet Group division will deliver pretax profit of around £83 million for the year, increasing from £75.9 million in financial 2025. Pets At Home does not expect any adverse impact on the division’s growth strategy from the sector’s investigation final decision by the Competition & Markets Authority, welcoming it instead.

Pets At Home expects to finish the financial year with a net position of around £20 million after returning about £85 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

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