Pets at Home CEO hails ‘profound transformation’ as annual earnings revealed

Expanding its focus from a pure-play pet retailer to something more holistic for pet parents had a transformative impact on Pets at Home in its fiscal year 2025 (FY2025) from March 2024 to March 2025.

The British pet retailer has reported its preliminary FY2025 results, showing a modest increase (0.1%) in revenue to £1.5 billion ($2B/€1.8B) year-over-year (YoY).

Profit before tax increased 11.4% to £88.2 million ($119M/€105M).

Overall consumer group revenue was up 2.7%, but this was not driven by retail, which declined 1.8% YoY amid “a period of subdued growth in the pet sector due to a soft UK consumer backdrop throughout FY2025, deflation and normalizing levels of new pet ownership.”

The company also says there were “transitionary impacts” from its digital platform launch.

Vet portfolio

However, Pets at Home’s vet business posted revenue of £655.1 million ($882.6M/€778M), a 13% increase compared to FY2024, which then accounted for £579.8 million ($781.3M/€688.6M).

The positive performance is due to increased visits, higher average transaction values and “significant” growth in Care Plan revenues.

It also opened 3 new joint-venture (JV) practices, completed 15 JV extensions during the year and plans to open at least 10 new JV practices alongside 15 extensions in FY2026.

“The past 2 years have seen a profound transformation at Pets at Home,” explains CEO Lyssa McGowan. “We have moved from a business with a strong presence in pet retail and vets to a true pet care platform.”

The full transition of its digital platform will enable the company to leverage customer data from its Pets Club, where membership has grown from 5% to 8.2 million, thanks in part to auto-enrolment on the new platform.

It plans to fully integrate veterinary services, grooming and insurance to offer a more complete service to pet parents.

Subscription revenues

Subscription revenues grew by 30%, now accounting for 13% of the group’s consumer revenue, up from 10% last year, primarily driven by a strong performance in Easy Repeat and Care Plans, thanks to enhancements in its offerings.

Easy Repeat was recently rolled out in physical stores, having previously only been available on digital channels.

In its earnings release, Pets at Home says its strategy is clear: “We are the UK’s only complete pet care provider, and our recent transformational investments will provide a platform for outperformance through unlocking new areas of growth in existing and adjacent markets, generating long-term sustainable value for all stakeholders.”

Looking ahead

McGowan says that in recent times, the firm replatformed its digital infrastructure, built new capabilities around its data, brand and marketing and simplified its distribution network to a single distribution center fulfilling stores, online and subscriptions.

“We have achieved this against the backdrop of a normalizing pet care market and low consumer confidence,” she adds.

According to McGowan, Pets at Home now has a platform that is fit for the future and “capable of delivering sustained outperformance and market share gains through delighting consumers and increasingly fulfilling all of their pet care needs,” she says.

As the retailer enters FY2026, it has warned of challenges and announced some streamlining of its in-store staffing.

Its latest release states that it expects the current market conditions and subdued consumer backdrop to persist into FY2026, with retail market growth of approximately 2% anticipated.