Double digit growth at Animalcare in year it completed £134m acquisition
Biotech business Animalcare has reported double digit growth in the year in which it acquired Ecuphar NV for £134m.
The York-based group, which develops and sells of veterinary products in the companion animal, production animal and equine markets, saw overall revenues to 31 December 2017 climb 22% to £83.7m, up from £68.4m the year before. Pre-tax profits grew to £7.1m, up from £5.1m in 2016.
The firm’s acquisition of Belgium-based Ecuphar NV completed last summer, trebling the size of the business.
Talking to TheBusinessDesk.com this morning, CEO Christiaan Cardon said that the new acquisition had been fully integrated and they were looking at further synergies between the groups. “Everything is going really well,” he said.
The firm said that it had undertaken a personnel reorganisation, with internal promotions made to lead Technical and Commercial Development and Export late in the year. During 2017, it also focused on integration, with priority focus on supply chain, systems (HR & IT) and product development.
The group grew its revenues across all of its markets except the UK. CFO Chris Brewster said that the 2.5% reduction in UK revenue was effected by the fact that revenues had grown in 2016 due to the UK change in law for micro-chipping pets. Its licensed pharma division continued to grow, he said.
Brewster added: “The revenue growth is driven by an increase in market penetration in our markets.
“In Italy and Germany, the market we have is quite small at the moment but they are €600m and €800m markets, so there is lots of room for those businesses to grow.”
Jan Boone, Chairman of Animalcare Group, said: “2017 was a transformational year for Animalcare Group plc. Whilst characterised by continued strong organic revenue growth, the most dominant factor during the year was the reverse acquisition of Ecuphar NV.
“It has positioned the Group to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the significantly enlarged footprint and sales network to deliver profitable, cash-generative growth enabling the Company to deliver long-term shareholder value.”
The board is proposed a final dividend of 2 pence per share, which when added to the second interim dividend of 4.7 pence per shares gives a total dividend of 6.7 pence per share since the reverse acquisition.
