The Pets at Home Group Plc Board has recommended a final dividend of 8.3 pence per share, an increase of 10.7% on the prior year. This takes the total dividend for the year to 12.8 pence per share, an increase of 8.5% on the prior year, reflecting our strong cash performance and balance sheet. The final dividend will be payable on 11 July 2023 to shareholders on the register at the close of trading on 16 June 2023.
Other financial highlights include:
●Total Group revenue growth of 6.6% to £1,404.2m, with Group like-for-like (LFL) revenue up 7.9%, with quarterly LFL accelerating sequentially throughout the year.
●Vet Group revenue increased by 13.3%, with LFL revenue up 13.4%. Across their general practices they are now consistently delivering in excess of £10m consumer revenue per week.
●Retail revenue growth of 5.9%, and LFL growth of 7.5%. All channels contributed to growth, and they delivered further progress in their relative price competitiveness.
●Statutory PBT was £122.5m, down 17.7% reflecting the gain on the sale of their Specialist Group in FY22 and the costs of bringing their new DC onstream in FY23, which are treated as non-underlying.
●Underlying PBT of £136.4m is up 4.8% (+8.0% on a 52-week basis), ahead of previous guidance, with strong trading performance partly offset by higher energy costs and increased investment in digital assets as they build out their platform.
●Free cash flow up 3.5% to £98.2m reflecting YoY profit growth and their planned increased investment into their key strategic growth areas. Cash and cash equivalents at end of year was £178.0m.
●Balance sheet remains robust with net cash (before lease liabilities of £421.4m) of £54.7m, giving the confidence to announce a £50m buyback for the year ahead, following £50m completed in FY23, in line with their capital allocation policy.
