(Alliance News) - Pets At Home Group PLC on Wednesday reported a decline in profit amid a "subdued" external trading environment and costs relating to the transition of distribution centres.

The Wilmslow, England-based pet supply retailer said pretax profit fell 14% to GBP105.7 million in the financial year that ended March 28 from GBP122.5 million the year before.

Revenue climbed 5.2% to GBP1.48 billion from GBP1.40 billion.

However, cost of sales increased 7.6% to GBP785.3 million from GBP729.6 million. Non-underlying costs increased 89% to GBP26.3 million from GBP13.9 million, which reflected the firm's distribution centres transition and support office consolidation.

Pets At Home maintained its final dividend at 8.3 pence per share, bringing its total payout to an unchanged 12.8p. The company said it plans for a further GBP25 million share buyback after the GBP100 million in such purchases completed over the past two years.

Chief Executive Officer Lyssa McGowan said: "FY24 has been a pivotal year for the business, having delivered some key building blocks of our platform for long term growth. I am proud of the progress we have made in the year; we relaunched our brand, opened our new DC, built our new digital platform, made progress in our sustainability agenda, and enhanced our physical estate. The business has come together brilliantly to navigate any challenges faced this year, and we have delivered some key milestones of our strategy."

Looking ahead, Pets At Home said it is comfortable with current analyst consensus for underlying pretax profit of around GBP144 million for financial 2025, up 9.1% from GBP132.0 million in financial 2024, which was 3.2% lower than GBP136.4 million in financial 2023.

CEO McGowan said: "Our medium-term strategy and financial framework is unchanged and, looking ahead, the fundamental strengths of the business position us well to deliver growth. We hold a leading position in a structurally growing market, with an unrivalled retail store network, and a unique, differentiated and integrated vet business."

Pets At Home shares were 4.6% higher at 296.40 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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