H1 FY16 financial highlights
Total revenue growth of 6.0% to £404.5m
o Merchandise revenues up 4.1% to £362.6m: Food revenues up 7.1% to £202.1m, with Advanced Nutrition growing 13.7% to £85.8m. Accessories revenues up 0.6% to £160.5m, offset by continuing challenge to Health & Hygiene product sales
o Services revenues up 26.2% to £41.9m, reflecting growth in both mature and maturing vets and groomers, and good performance from Northwest Surgeons, our specialist referral hospital acquired at the start of the financial year
Like-for-like sales growth of 1.8%
o Merchandise like-for-like revenue growth of 1.0%
o Services like-for-like revenue growth of 10.5%
Gross margin of 54.1%, +27bps on the prior year; reflecting strong margin expansion in both Merchandise and Services
EBITDA growth of 5.1% to £60.7m and margin 15.0%
Basic EPS of 7.2 pence, growth of 13.4%
Free cashflow of £29.5m, conversion of 47%, compared with the prior year at 38%
Interim dividend of 2.0p per share, growth of 11.1%
