Pets at Home profits in rude health thanks to vet and grooming services

The British public's obsession with dogs and cats is beyond reckon, but sprawling chain Pets at Home can put a figure of £87m ($134m, €118m) in full year pre-tax profits on its much needed services, which have now expended to include vet practices.

For its fiscal year ending 26 March, the pet retailer saw revenue jumped by 10% to £729m as its venture into vet practices and grooming pays off. Profit before tax was up 13.5% to £87m.

Pets at Home bought Vets4Pets in 2013, making it the biggest small-animal vet chain in the country with 338 outlets. It says that it now has 3.2 million members and 10.5 million pets.

Pets at Home chief executive officer Nick Wood attributed a lot of the growth to its "Advanced Nutrition" where it has "a strong market presence through our private brand, Wainwright's".

"We have also seen excellent growth in pet services as we roll-out new vet practices and groom rooms and the existing estate continues to mature.

"With our business growing strongly, we have decided that now is the right time to implement a new divisional structure to drive performance further," he said.

The business plans to open a further 25 new stores, 61 veterinary practices and 50 Groom Rooms in the coming year.