Total sales for Pets at Home, which floated on the stock market last year, have risen to almost £730 million, the company announced this week.

The pet store chain said underlying profits are set to come in at £120 million.

Speaking after the release of the results, Pets at Home chief executive Nick Wood said he was delighted with the group's performance in the 12 months to March 26.

He commented: “We are delighted to be delivering on expectations in our first year as a publicly listed company.

"We have seen strength across both merchandise and services, demonstrating the broad range of levers through which we will successfully deliver further profitable business growth.”

The group now has 400 stores nationwide and last week became a joint venture partner in a national veterinary business too.

Pets at Home opened 25 new stores in the current financial year, 61 vet practices and 50 in-store Groom Rooms.

The company attributed the strong performance to sales of advanced nutrition, health and hygiene and its VIP Club loyalty scheme.

The VIP scheme added 270,000 members in the fourth quarter, taking the total to 3.2million.