Pets at Home has pledged rapid action to revive its underperforming retail division after reporting weaker profits and flat group revenues in the first half of FY26.
For the 28 week period ending 9 October, the pet retail giant posted statutory revenue of £778.3m, down 1.3%, with statutory profit before tax sliding 29% to £36.2m. Underlying profit before tax also fell sharply, down 33.5%, reflecting a severe profit drop in Retail.
Interim Executive Chair Ian Burke, who stepped in as acting CEO ten weeks ago, said the Retail performance “has fallen well below expectations”, and confirmed the rapid rollout of a turnaround plan.
“I’ve spent time visiting over 100 Pet Care Centres and engaging with colleagues at all levels of the business to establish where the challenges are isolated, resulting in the implementation of a retail turnaround plan with four clear priorities of Product, Price, Execution and Cost,” said Burke.
“We are returning to our retailing roots to stabilise and rebuild momentum in our Retail business, and to lay the foundations for a new CEO in due course.”
While the Retail division posted a 2.3% decline in consumer revenue and an 84% collapse in underlying PBT, the Vet Group continued to outperform, with consumer revenue up 6.7% and underlying PBT up 8.3% to £44.9m.
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Digital performance was a bright spot, with Pets’ new platform generating double-digit online growth in Q2, helping to offset weaker in-store sales.
Meanwhile, subscription revenues, driven by Easy Repeat and vet Care Plans, rose to 14.6% of consumer revenue.
The company confirmed its new Pets at Home-branded insurance proposition remains on track for a 2026 launch, though expected FY26 losses have increased to around £5m.
Pets at Home has also initiated a £20m overhead-reduction programme, expected to deliver a full-year benefit in FY27, with £6–8m of restructuring costs to be recognised this year.
Despite the challenging first half, the group said it’s full-year guidance remains unchanged.
Looking ahead, Burke said the company retains “considerable competitive advantages”, including scale, an integrated digital platform, 17,000 specialist colleagues and a leading network of 459 Pet Care Centres.
In September, the retailer named Sarah Pollard as its new chief financial officer (CFO) and executive director. The search for a permanent CEO is ongoing.
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