Pets at Home said revenue in the 16 weeks to July 20, climbed by 7.9% to £436.8 million, as like-for-like sales rose by 7.9%.

While retail revenue increased by 7.1% on both a total and like-for-like basis, vet group revenue was up 16.3%, with like-for-like growth of 16.6%.

Pets at Home chief executive Lyssa McGowan said: “Our performance in the first quarter has been encouraging. The quality of our growth has remained strong as we grew transaction volumes and continued to acquire new consumers at an impressive rate, as our compelling value, range and service continues to resonate with consumers.

“It has also been a quarter of steady delivery against our strategic plan we set out in May. We have expanded and enhanced our physical estate, made good progress in the development of our digital platform, and continued the transition to our new distribution facility, as we execute on our ambition to build the world’s best pet care platform.”

During the period, Pets at Home continued to grow its customer numbers with its active VIP base increasing by 4% to 7.7 million. It also opened two new pet care centres and completed nine refits.