Acquisition pay-off for Animalcare
MASHAM-based Animalcare has moved into profit after restructuring its business last year.
The North Yorkshire firm, which changed its name from Ritchey to Animalcare after the reverse takeover of the former Genus subsidiary, reported today a “substantial increase” in group revenue and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) for the half-year ended December 31.
The group, which is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of veterinary medicines and animal identification products, saw EBITDA rise to £820,000 from £120,000. Turnover grew to £7.76m from £3.41m for the period 2007. Like-for-like pre-tax profit was £900,000 compared to a £10,000 loss.
Basic earnings per share increased to 0.3p (2007 – 0.1p loss). In line with previous years the company is not declaring an interim dividend.
Animalcare said that its performance had been boosted by two recently introduced generic veterinary medicines – Buprecare and Benzacare, the latter of which has been approved for the treatment of renal failure in cats.
Additionally, it has been granted marketing authorisations in the UK and other European markets for Cephacare, a generic version of the antibiotic Cephalexin for the treatment of skin conditions in dogs and cats.
The Ritchey livestock business delivered revenue of £3.4m in line with the same period in 2007, achieving modest growth offset by the change to trading arrangements with a major supplier.
“The companion animal market remains strong and we are confident that our veterinary medicine development programme will continue to deliver satisfactory results,” the group said.
