Shares in Pets at Home recovered slightly after the retail group published a pre-close update in respect of its financial performance in the past year.

Following the announcement on Monday, the share price dropped by over 11% after the retailer and vet chain reported that trading was  in line with expectations but gave weak guidance for the new financial year. 

The group revealed that its fourth quarter performance had been broadly as planned across retail and vets “against a challenging and volatile UK consumer backdrop”.

Shares recovered slightly by nearly 3% yesterday (Wednesday) to 221p.

Lyssa McGowan, Pets at Home CEO, said: “We are making good progress in delivering our strategy of building the world’s best pet care platform, although the market remains challenging with subdued consumer confidence and the business facing significant external cost headwinds in 2025.

“Our Vets business is delivering very strong growth and continuing to outperform the market, with a robust pipeline of new openings in place for the coming year leveraging our unique practice owner model. In Retail, we’re confident that with our major infrastructure investments behind us, we are well placed for future growth as the short-term pressures ease and the consumer environment improves.

“I would like to thank our incredible colleagues and practice teams, whose care, support, expertise and advice creates a better world for pets and the people who love them, every single day."