Pets at Home has shrugged off supply chain headaches as a sustained rise in pet ownership over the past 18 months shows no signs of slowing – helping it deliver bumper sales and profits.

Half-year results showed revenues up by 18% on 2020 and profits climbing by 81%.

Chief executive Peter Pritchard said there was no sign of a drop-off in pet boom that started early in the pandemic.

He told the PA News agency: “The new number of puppies and kittens is still rising at a similar rate to months earlier, so we are really positive.”

The results for the 28 weeks to 7 October showed revenues climbing to £677.6m and pre-tax profits surging to £70.6m.

Shares rose more than 6% as the company also said full-year pre-tax profits were expected to be at the top end of analysts’ expectations.

Like-for-like retail sales rose by 21.9% while revenues from the company’s vet practices were up 26.2% over the latest period.

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Pets at Home also saw a doubling in the size of its puppy and kitten clubs, whose members tend to spend a third more with the company than non-members.

Meanwhile the number of pet care plan subscriptions rose by 45% to 1.4 million – representing £110m in recurring annual sales.

“The stronger than expected and continuing growth in the pet population over the past 18 months is materially increasing the size of our addressable market,” the company said.

Pets at Home operates from 453 stores – many of which also have vet practices and grooming salons – as well as online.

It acknowledged “widely reported challenges in the near-term operating environment relating to supply, logistics and labour availability”.

The company said: “We are not immune to such challenges, but are, as the UK’s leading pet care retailer, well placed to manage them, having adapted our operations to be able to continue providing our segment leading levels of pet care to customers with minimal disruption.”

It said it benefited from sourcing the vast majority of its product range in the UK, on long lead times and with no perishable or seasonal goods, while the variety of ranges it stocks means it can offer alternatives where needed.

Pets at Home also said it had “managed the challenges” caused by the cost and availability of shipping containers while adding that it used a “small number” of in-house HGV drivers, and that a competitive pay structure was helping it hold on to staff.

Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Conditions don’t get much better for a pet superstore.

“UK pet ownership continues to climb, when a severe slowdown had been feared after the lockdown-induced tidal wave of new puppies and kittens.

“It seems ongoing flexible working, and perhaps the renewed popularity of rural living, have culminated in the trend having more room to run than initially thought.”

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