Pets at Home has said it expects full-year pre-tax profit to be ahead of current market expectations.
The Cheshire-based company said its sales ‘momentum’ has returned across all areas of its business, in a trading update for the 16 weeks from March 27 to July 16.
This was down to “normalising” of shopping habits and the group reinstating services and permitted procedures, it said.
Pets at Home said the momentum has continued during the second quarter, with double-digit like-for-like growth in customer sales through the eight weeks to September 10.
The retailer said: “This is testament to several factors, not least the inherent resilience in our pet care model and the underlying pet care market.
“We continue to benefit from the adaptability of our operations to changes in customer behaviour and preferences, our continuing investment in omnichannel capacity and customer acquisition channels, and the clear advantages of our unique owner-managed First Opinion veterinary model.
“Although COVID-19 continues to create a number of material uncertainties around the trading environment, including the risk of a second lockdown, based on trading year to date, and as a consequence of the sustained strength in performance we have seen, we now expect full-year underlying pre-tax profit to be ahead of current market expectations.
“Our balance sheet and liquidity remain strong.”
The group is set to announce its interim results for the full-year 2021 on November 24.
