Greencross profit drops 51 per cent

pet-circle-810x360Specialist pet care company Greencross saw a 51 per cent slump in its net profit after tax in FY18 to $20.7 million, compared to last year’s $42.1 million, due to a $24.2 million writedown of exceptional items.

Sales revenue, however, lifted 7 per cent over the year to reach $878.7 million, up from $817.5 million in FY17, while like-for-like sales grew 4.9 per cent, up from 4.5 per cent growth in FY17.

“FY18 was a year of substantial change for Greencross. The strength of our business model is clearly evident from the excellent like-for-like sales growth that was delivered,” Greencross CEO and managing director Simon Hickey said.

“We have an unrivalled integrated pet care platform and the new management team is excited by the opportunities to grow market share by leveraging our unique retail, vet care and service offering and our 1.9 million active loyalty members.”

The group saw over 90 per cent of retail sales revenue coming from its ‘Friends for Life’ loyalty program members, which has grown to over 1.9 million customers.

Hickey called the loyalty program a key strength and an enormous opportunity to leverage.

Greencross saw 70 per cent growth in online retail sales to over $20 million in FY18, with over 50 per cent of online transactions being click-and-collect orders.

“By investing and digital and omnichannel, and leveraging our loyalty database, we will increase our capability to deliver highly personalised customer offers in a channel agnostic manner,” Hickey said.

Looking forward, Greencross seeks to follow five key strategic priorities, namely: expanding its integrated pet care model; investing in personalisation and omnichannel to leverage loyalty data and customer intimacy; differentiating retail offerings; improving vet operational performance; and focusing on service excellence across all parts of the business.

Greencross is targeting 8 per cent group revenue growth in FY19 and 6.1 per cent like-for-like retail sales growth.

Greencross is Australiasia’s largest pet care company, with over 150 veterinary practices and over 240 pet specialty retail stores across Australia and New Zealand.

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