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Handforth-headquartered retail and pet care group, Pets at Home Group, has announced it has begun the second phase of a £25 million share buy-back programme.
First announced with its annual results in June 2024, the £25 million share buy-back programme was planned to take place in two tranches. In June, Pets at Home Group entered into non-discretionary instructions with Deutsche Numis with respect to the first £12.5 million tranche of the programme with an end date of 27th September.
HSBC has been given instructions to start the second £12.5 million tranche of the programme from 14th October, which will run until 27th March 2025.
The sole purpose of the share buy-back programme is to reduce Pets at Home Group’s share capital; the maximum number of shares to be bought back by the Company is 48,319,778. The programme was approved at the Group’s Annual General Meeting held at its Stanley Green Head Office on 11th July 2024.
The £25 million share buy-back programme for the Group in its 2024-25 financial year follows £100 million of buy-backs that have taken place in the previous two years. In its preliminary financial results announced at the end of May 2024 where the share buy-back programme was also announced, Pets at Home Group reported revenue growth of 5.2% to £1.5 billion across both its retail and vet businesses. Despite this, it has seen profit before tax fall 3.2% year-on-year in light of investment made across the business during the past year, which it described as ‘pivotal’ for future growth.