Pets At Home earmarks 30 vet practices for possible closure

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Pets At Home
Pets at Home has earmarked around 30 vet practices for possible closure as part of an overhaul and warned over full-year results after the plans sent interim profits tumbling.

The group's new chief executive, Peter Pritchard, said he plans to buy out 55 joint venture vet practices from the 471-strong Vet Group chain, with 25 of them becoming company-managed practices and the remainder under review.

Details of the plan came as it reported pre-tax profits crashing 80.5% to £8 million in the six months to October 11 after taking costs of £29 million relating to the vet practice plans.

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On an underlying basis and with this stripped out, half-year pre-tax profits fell 9.3% to £37.9 million.

Pets warned it is now expecting lower full-year underlying pre-tax profits, forecasting at least £80 million to £85 million.

Mr Pritchard said: "Since becoming the group CEO in May, I have had the opportunity to take stock of the wider group and shape my view of our future."

He added: "Reviewing our vet group has been a priority. I recognise we have grown at pace and, more recently, have seen the pressure that rising costs and our fees are placing on this young business.

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"We will need to recalibrate the business to deliver more measured growth whilst maintaining our plan to generate significant cash profits."

Interim results showed retail sales rose 4.7% on a like-for-like basis, while Vet Group customer revenues rose 15.4%.

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