PET superstore chain Pets at Home is considering floating on the stock market within two years to help fund an expansion programme, it revealed this week.

The Cheshire group, which operates 150 stores, unveiled its aim of more than doubling its number of outlets over the next five years after it posted record annual results.

The company credited a leap in pre-tax profits from £4.5m to £12m for the year to March 25 to a "humanisation" of pets, with owners increasingly willing to buy the latest accessories.

It said there was also a demand for labour-saving items such as puppy nappies, while sales of hamsters, rats, guinea pigs, birds and fish had also grown significantly.

The group said turnover had grown to £218m during the year from £203m the previous year.

Pets at Home said it planned to open 100 superstores and 100 high street outlets and increase annual turnover to £500m and operating profits to £50m by 2009.

It plans to open between 20 and 30 stores in the coming 12 months.

The expansion would lead to 500 jobs at the outlets, the group's head office and its national distribution centre in Stoke.

It has set aside £10m for the expansion and the refurbishment of its existing stores.

Chief executive Matthew Davies said that although the company had not started a flotation process or appointed advisors, it was looking at various ways of funding expansion, including stock market flotation.

He said: "We are seriously considering the option of floating the business over the next couple of years -we are not ruling it out.

"We do think the business would be a very attractive investment opportunity because of our unique market position. We dominate the pet retail sector."

He said he believed the group's market capitalisation could be as high as £250m within two years, and added that the right time for floating might be the beginning of 2006.

The company began in 1991 with a store in Chester. It expanded in the 1990s before it bought PetSmart in 1999.

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- Ian Pluves is a director of Wise Speke. Views expressed are the author's own and are not necessarily held throughout the Brewin Dolphin Group. Wise Speke is a division of Brewin Dolphin Securities Ltd, a member of the London Stock Exhange, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Prices, values or income may fall against investor's interests. You should therefore be aware that you may get less back than you invested. Investments may not always be suitable for all individuals. If you have any doubts, you should consut a professional advisor.

Published: ??/??/2004