Pets at Home Group PLC's (LSE:PETS) first-half profit before tax exceeded Peel Hunt’s forecasts today, although the broker acknowledged that a full-year profit downgrade will offset the perceived positives.
“The shares are not on a big valuation, in our view, but have not had any positive forecast for a while and this is highly unlikely to help,” said analysts.
Their prediction was vindicated when Pets at Home’s shares price tumbled more than 10% when trading kicked off on Wednesday.
The retailer blamed subdued growth in the pet retail market and anticipates only modest profit growth for the year compared to previous expectations.
Peel Hunt estimates that Pets at Home’s financial 2025 profit-before-tax consensus will come to the high-£130 million range from £144 million currently.
However, analysts have the stock a 350p price target, suggesting a nearly 25% upside against the current 249p share price.