Musti grows H1 sales, but e-commerce transition slows Q2 online gains
Bottom line
Musti Group reported a solid first half for 2026, with net sales up 14.7% year over year to €277.1 million, even as a change to its e-commerce platform weighed on online performance in the second quarter. In its half-year report published July 23, 2026, the Nordic pet care retailer said Q2 net sales rose 13.8% to €138.5 million, but like-for-like growth slowed to 2.1% because of the re-platforming of its online business. Online share also fell to 21.4% in Q2 from 23.2% a year earlier. At the same time, Musti continued to expand its footprint, reaching 522 locations, including stores and veterinary clinics, and said customer growth and store expansion remained strong across its core markets. (mustigroup.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is a reminder that pet retail growth is still being driven by omnichannel scale, customer acquisition, and service integration, even when digital transitions create short-term friction. Musti said profitability was still being held back by roughly €1.9 million in year-to-date strategic investments tied to digital platform development, logistics, ERP, and assortment optimization. That matters because Musti’s network now spans retail, e-commerce, grooming, training, and veterinary services across the Nordics, Baltics, and Portugal, so operational changes in one part of the business can affect referral patterns, client convenience, and competitive pressure for clinics tied to pet retail ecosystems. (mustigroup.com)
What to watch: Watch for whether Musti’s online sales recover in the second half of 2026 as the platform transition stabilizes and as recent expansion moves, including the Gaston store transfer in Sweden, start feeding into its broader retail-and-services network. (mustigroup.com)
Musti Group’s first-half 2026 results show a familiar retail pattern: growth is holding up, but digital change is creating near-term drag. The Nordic pet care company said net sales rose 14.7% to €277.1 million in the first six months of 2026, while Q2 sales increased 13.8% to €138.5 million. But the company also said like-for-like growth in the quarter was hurt by changes to its e-commerce platform, a disruption that pulled online share down to 21.4% from 23.2% a year earlier. (mustigroup.com)
The result lands at a time when Musti is still reshaping itself into a broader European pet care platform. The company has expanded beyond its Nordic base into the Baltics and Portugal, integrating Pet City and ZU into the group while continuing to position itself as an omnichannel business spanning stores, online sales, and selected veterinary services. Its published strategy emphasizes customer acquisition, loyalty growth, and a wider service footprint, including the Pet City veterinary clinic network in the Baltics. (mustigroup.com)
In the half-year report, CEO David Rönnberg said core markets remained resilient, with Norway standing out for strong growth and profitability improvement, while Finland was stable despite the e-commerce transition. Sweden also remained a focus for expansion. Earlier in July, Musti said it would take over ICA’s three Gaston pet stores and the brand’s e-commerce channel, with those operations set to be folded into Arken Zoo. The companies also said they were discussing a longer-term partnership that could place more Arken Zoo stores near ICA supermarkets in Sweden. (mustigroup.com)
The financial details show both momentum and strain. Gross margin improved to 44.2% for the half from 43.2% a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA rose 10.1% to €28.3 million. But EBITA and operating result remained under pressure, and Musti said about €1.9 million in year-to-date adjusted EBITDA was affected by growth and scalability investments. Those investments include digital platform development, logistics improvements, ERP work, and assortment optimization, all of which suggest the company is prioritizing infrastructure even at the expense of near-term earnings. (mustigroup.com)
There was limited outside expert commentary available immediately following the July 23 report, but Musti’s own messaging was clear: management sees the e-commerce disruption as temporary and tied to re-platforming rather than weakening demand. That interpretation is supported by the company’s continued customer growth to about 1.867 million and its expanding physical footprint to 522 locations, including veterinary clinics. In other words, the drag appears operational, not structural. That’s an inference based on the company’s reported customer and location growth alongside its comments on platform transition. (mustigroup.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, Musti’s results are less about one retailer’s quarterly execution and more about the direction of the pet care market. Large specialty players are building tighter links between commerce, services, loyalty programs, and clinical touchpoints. Musti already operates in markets where retail and veterinary services sit under the same corporate umbrella in selected locations, and its growth strategy is built around deeper engagement with pet parents across the pet lifecycle. For clinics, that can mean stronger competition for routine wellness traffic, more integrated consumer journeys, and rising expectations around convenience, subscription purchasing, and cross-channel communication. (mustigroup.com)
It also matters because Musti’s short-term online disruption highlights a broader operational lesson. Digital migrations can dent sales even in otherwise healthy categories, especially when businesses rely on recurring food purchases and convenience-driven reorder behavior. Veterinary groups investing in e-commerce, pharmacy fulfillment, or client-facing digital tools may see this as a cautionary example: infrastructure upgrades can be strategically necessary, but the transition period can still affect client retention and transaction flow. Musti’s willingness to absorb that pressure suggests it believes the long-term payoff will be better scalability and customer experience. (mustigroup.com)
What to watch: The next key question is whether Musti can restore online momentum in the second half of 2026 while converting recent acquisitions and partnerships into profitable growth. Watch for updates on e-commerce recovery, the final stages of Pet City integration in the Baltics, the progress of ZU integration in Portugal, and whether the ICA partnership in Sweden becomes a broader distribution and traffic driver for Arken Zoo and Musti’s service network. (mustigroup.com)