Petco Health + Wellness Company, Inc. Reports Strong Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2020 Results, Issues 2021 Guidance

SAN DIEGO, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF), a complete partner in pet health and wellness, today released its financial results for fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 ended January 30, 2021. 

The company delivered fourth quarter comparable sales growth of 17 percent and net revenue growth of 16 percent, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of growth for Petco.  A $17.5 million loss on the extinguishment of debt related to the company's initial public offering contributed to a net loss of $6.2 million or $0.03 per share, an improvement of 14 percent and 17 percent, respectively.  Adjusted Net Income¹ increased 103 percent from prior year to $37.0 million or $0.17 per share, while fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased 13 percent to $148.6 million from prior year.   

Fiscal year 2020 revenue increased 11 percent from prior year to $4.9 billion.  A net loss of $26.5 million or $0.13 per share improved 72 percent and 73 percent, respectively, and was also inclusive of a $17.5 million loss on the extinguishment of debt related to the company's initial public offering.  That 11 percent growth translated to a 14 percent improvement in Adjusted EBITDA¹ to $484.3 million, as well as a $68.0 million improvement in Adjusted Net Income¹ to $58.1 million or $0.28 per share, reflecting the strength of Petco's multi-channel pet care ecosystem.

"On the heels of a successful IPO in January, we closed the year with a strong fourth quarter, and that momentum has carried into 2021," said Ron Coughlin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Petco. "Our comprehensive petcare ecosystem focused on health and wellness, coupled with our digitally-led, multichannel experience is resonating with pet parents and generating significant competitive advantages that are evident in our performance.  Our category continues to grow powered by the millions of incremental new pets in households, which is creating an annuity for years to come.  Whether it is eliminating products with artificial ingredients³, rapidly expanding vet clinics, training, grooming or customer-first fulfillment options like same-day delivery, we're expanding the ways we take care of beloved pets and stepping up to meet increased demand making Petco well positioned for long-term growth."

In addition, Petco reduced total debt by 49 percent to $1.7 billion and Net Debt¹ by 50 percent to $1.5 billion using the proceeds from the company's initial public offering, the recapitalization of a portion of debt outstanding at the time of the initial public offering and Free Cash Flow¹ generation.  Net Debt¹ reduction and Adjusted EBITDA¹ improvement led to a decrease of 4.2x in Petco's Net Debt¹ to Adjusted EBITDA¹ ratio to 3.2x.  On March 4^th, Petco announced the successful completion of the company's debt refinancing transaction which extended the maturity dates of the company's term loan to 2028 and revolving credit facility to 2026.  

Fiscal Q4 2020 Highlights:
Comparisons are fourth quarter of 2020 ended January 30, 2021 versus fourth quarter of 2019 ended February 1, 2020 unless otherwise noted

• Net sales increased 16 percent to $1.3 billion driven by comp sales growth of 17 percent
• Net loss of $6.2 million or $0.03 per share was inclusive of a $17.5 million loss on the extinguishment of debt related to the company's initial public offering
• Adjusted Net Income¹ increased $18.7 million to $37.0 million or $0.17 per share
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased 13 percent to $148.6 million

Fiscal Year 2020 Highlights:
Comparisons are fiscal year of 2020 ended January 30, 2021 versus fiscal year of 2019 ended February 1, 2020 unless otherwise noted

• Net sales increased 11 percent to $4.9 billion driven by comp sales growth of 11 percent
• Net loss of $26.5 million or $0.13 per share inclusive of a $17.5 million loss on the extinguishment of debt related to the company's initial public offering
• Adjusted Net Income¹ increased $68.0 million to $58.1 million or $0.28 per share
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ increased 14 percent to $484.3 million
• Net cash provided by operating activities increased $158.3 million to $268.6 million
• Free Cash Flow¹ increased $155.6 million to $109.1 million
• Total debt decreased $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion driven by the proceeds generated in the company's initial public offering, related recapitalization and Free Cash Flow generation
• Net Debt¹ decreased $1.6 billion to $1.5 billion
• Net Debt¹ / Adjusted EBITDA¹ improved 57 percent to 3.2x
• Liquidity of $499.0 million inclusive of $111.4 million of cash and cash equivalents and $387.6 million of availability on revolving credit facility.
• Ended 2020 with 1,454 Pet Care Centers, 125 Full Service Vet Hospitals within Pet Care Centers, and 96 Pet Care Centers in Mexico 

Fiscal 2021 Guidance:

The following guidance as of March 18, 2021 reflects the company's expectations for fiscal year 2021 unless otherwise indicated.  

Assumptions in the guidance include that economic conditions, currency rates and the tax and regulatory landscape remain generally consistent. The company continues to monitor those assumptions and any potential financial impacts. Adjusted EPS guidance assumes approximately $90 million of interest expense, a 26% tax rate and 266 million weighted average diluted share count.

Earnings Conference Call Webcast Information:

The company will host an earnings conference call on March 18, 2021 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time to discuss Petco's financial results.  The conference call will be accessible through live webcast.  Interested investors and other individuals can access the webcast, earnings press release, and earnings presentation via the company's investor relations page (https://ir.petco.com/investor-relations).  A replay of the webcast will be archived on the company's website through April 1, 2021 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

About Petco:

Petco is a category-defining health and wellness company focused on improving the lives of pets, pet parents and our own Petco partners. Since our founding in 1965, we've been trailblazing new standards in pet care, delivering comprehensive wellness solutions through our products and services, and creating communities that deepen the pet-pet parent bond. We operate more than 1,500 Petco locations across the U.S., Mexico, and Puerto Rico, including a growing network of more than 100 in-store veterinary hospitals, and offer a complete online resource for pet health and wellness at petco.com and on the Petco app. In tandem with The Petco Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization, we work with and support thousands of local animal welfare groups across the country and, through in-store adoption events, we've helped find homes for more than 6.5 million animals.

Forward Looking Statements

This earnings release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, concerning expectations, beliefs plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are not statements of historical fact. Although the company believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking results will occur or be realized, and nothing contained in this earnings release is, or should be relied upon as, a promise or representation or warranty as to any future matter, including any matter in respect of the operations or business or financial condition of Petco. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believes," "expects," "may," "intends," "will," "shall," "should," "anticipates," "opportunity," "illustrative", or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements are based on assumptions or judgments about future events that may or may not be correct or necessarily take place and that are by their nature subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are outside the control of Petco. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those identified in this earnings release, the risk factors that the company identifies in its Securities and Exchange Commission filings, as well as the following: (i) increased competition (including from multi-channel retailers and e-Commerce providers); (ii) reduced consumer demand for our products and/or services; (iii) our reliance on key vendors; (iv) our ability to attract and retain qualified employees; (v) risks arising from statutory, regulatory and/or legal developments; (vi) macroeconomic pressures in the markets in which we operate; (vii) failure to effectively manage our costs; (viii) our reliance on our information technology systems; (ix) our ability to prevent or effectively respond to a privacy or security breach; (x) our ability to effectively manage strategic ventures, alliances or acquisitions; (xi) economic or regulatory developments that might affect our ability to provide attractive promotional financing; (xii) interruptions and other supply chain issues; (xiii) catastrophic events, health crises, and pandemics, including the potential effects that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and/or corresponding macroeconomic uncertainty could have on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows; (xiv) our ability to maintain positive brand perception and recognition; (xv) product safety and quality concerns; (xvi) changes to labor or employment laws or regulations; (xvii) our ability to effectively manage our real estate portfolio; (xviii) constraints in the capital markets or our vendor credit terms; and (xix) changes in our credit ratings.  The occurrence of any such factors, events, or circumstances would significantly alter the results set forth in these statements.

Petco cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not complete, and any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Petco undertakes no duty to update publicly any forward-looking statement that it may make, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law, regulation or other competent legal authority.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The following information provides definitions and reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this earnings release to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).  The company has provided this non-GAAP financial information, which is not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP, as information supplemental and in addition to the financial measures presented in the earnings release that are calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.  Such non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for or alternative to, and should be considered in conjunction with, the GAAP financial measures presented in the earnings release. The non-GAAP financial measures in the earnings release may differ from similarly-titled measures used by other companies.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is considered a non-GAAP financial measure under the SEC's rules because it excludes certain charges included in net (loss) income calculated in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful measure to share with investors because it best allows comparison with that of the current period performance with that of the comparable period. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA affords investors a view of what management considers Petco's operating performance to be and the ability to make a more informed assessment of such operating performance as compared with that of the prior period.

Please see the company's Registration Statement on Form filed on January 6, 2021, as amended, for additional information on the reconciliation of Net Loss Attributable to Class A and B-1 Common Stockholders to Adjusted EBITDA. The table below reflects the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA for the thirteen weeks and fiscal year ended January 30, 2021 compared to prior year ended February 1, 2020.

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS

Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted diluted earnings per share attributable to Petco (Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS respectively) are considered non-GAAP financial measures under the SEC's rules because they exclude certain amounts included in the net loss attributable to common stockholders and diluted earnings per share attributable to Petco calculated in accordance with GAAP (net loss and EPS respectively), the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS are meaningful measures to share with investors because they best allow comparison of the current period performance with that of the comparable period. In addition, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS afford investors a view of what management considers Petco's earnings performance to be and the ability to make a more informed assessment of such earnings performance with that of the prior period.

The tables below reflect the calculation of Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS for the thirteen weeks and fiscal year ended January 30, 2021 compared to prior year ended February 1, 2020.

Free Cash Flow

Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated as net cash generated by operations less cash paid for fixed assets.  Management believes that Free Cash Flow, which measures the ability to generate additional cash from business operations, is an important financial measure for use in evaluating the company's financial performance.

Although other companies report their Free Cash Flow numerous methods exist for calculating a company's Free Cash Flow. As a result, the method used by Petco's management to calculate Free Cash Flow may differ from the methods used by other companies to calculate their Free Cash Flow.

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to net cash provided by operating activities, which Petco believes to be the GAAP financial measure most directly comparable to Free Cash Flow.  The table below reflects the calculation of Free Cash Flow for the thirteen weeks and fiscal year ended January 30, 2021 compared to prior year ended February 1, 2020.

Net Debt

Net Debt is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated as the sum of current and non-current debt, less cash and cash equivalents.  Management considers this adjustment useful because it reduces the volatility of total debt caused by fluctuations between cash paid against the company's revolving credit facility and cash held on hand in cash and cash equivalents.

Although other companies report their Net Debt, numerous methods exist for calculating a company's Net Debt. As a result, the method used by Petco's management to calculate Net Debt may differ from the methods used by other companies to calculate their Net Debt.

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of Net Debt, to total debt, which Petco believes to be the GAAP financial measure most directly comparable to Net Debt.  The table below reflects the calculation of Net Debt as of the period ended January 30, 2021 compared to prior year ended February 1, 2020.

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SOURCE Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc.