Pets at Home launches £50m share buyback scheme

Pets at Home has launched a £50m share buyback programme, intended to reduce share capital and return cash to shareholders.

The company has entered into non-discretionary instructions with Deutsche Bank. Under the agreement, the bank will act as an independent execution agent, in a two-tranche format, with the first £25m beginning effective immediately.

The first tranche will run until 9 October 2026, with the second tranche to follow later. All shares repurchased under the programme are expected to be cancelled as a means to reduce the company’s share capital. The maximum number of shares which may be bought back by the company is 44,828,459.

The buyback was authorised by shareholders at its annual general meeting held on 10 July 2025. The continuation of the programme beyond the company’s 2026 annual general meeting, scheduled for 9 July 2026, requires a renewal of this authority from shareholders.

The move follows a period of financial difficulty for the pet company, which reported a “total Group statutory revenue down 0.8% to £1.47bn” in a preliminary report published in May of this year.

Ian Burke, chair of Pets at Home, said in a statement: “FY26 has been a year of transition for Pets at Home. The Vet business delivered another year of strong growth in revenue, profit and cash flow, while continuing to expand its clinical capability and footprint. Retail performance was more challenging, and we have taken decisive action through the Retail Turnaround Plan to address this.

“The plan has stabilised the business and begun to rebuild momentum. While there is more to do, the Group’s underlying strengths remain intact, and I am confident in our ability to deliver improved performance.”

The programme follows a wider buyback trend amongst UK retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, in April 2026.