Companies that operate in the animal care market are among the few winners during the pandemic as lockdowns and work-from-home policies have been accompanied by a surge in pet sales.

"We are firmly on track to report a record year of sales and profit growth," Chief Executive Officer Peter Pritchard said while expressing confidence in the company's long-term growth.

The company, which also offers grooming and veterinary services, said it now expects underlying pre-tax profit for the year ending March to be at least 140 million pounds ($189 million), compared with company-compiled analysts' average estimate of 135 million pounds.

The group's one-year like-for-like revenue rose 8.7% in the December-ending third quarter, although the growth rate slowed from 30.2% in the first quarter and 13.4% in the second as pandemic restrictions eased.

The company, like many other retailers, cautioned that it was witnessing a number of inflationary pressures across the supply chain and was proactively mitigating them through a series of initiatives targeting rent reductions, procurement savings and operational efficiencies.

Pets At Home said it was well advanced in its search for a replacement for CEO Pritchard, who announced in November that he would be stepping down after more than a decade with the company.

Shares of the company rose more than 2% in early trade and were among the top percentage gainers on the FTSE Midcap index.

($1 = 0.7406 pounds)

(Reporting by Chris Peters in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Subhranshu Sahu)