Cheaper cat foods lift Pets at Home

CUTTING prices for dog and cat food helped bolster sales at Pets at Home.

The firm said it had begun to reap the benefits of its ‘everyday lower price’ initiative, which helped drive customers to its stores.

Sales jumped 5pc to £256.5m in the 16 weeks to July 21, while sales across stores open for more than a year rose 2.7pc compared to the year before. Shares soared 5.7pc, or 9.8p, to 182.1p.

Pets at Home said its Advanced Nutrition and Hill’s Science Plan pet foods performed particularly well after price cuts were introduced.

It added that its services division, which includes pet grooming salons and veterinary services, had also performed strongly thanks to the expansion of new Pets at Home ‘superstores’ – with sales up 18.8pc in the period.

Ian Kellett, chief executive, said: ‘We are pleased with our positive start to the year. We have continued our everyday lower price repositioning and reduced the reliance on short-term promotional discounts.’