A 7 per cent rise in like-for-like sales, and several acquisitions, propelled adjusted full-year cash profit at veterinary group CVS (CVS) up by a fifth to £19.7m.
Indeed, CVS spent £12.4m acquiring 18 veterinary surgeries and its third crematorium. These contributed £6.5m to revenues and £1.5m to cash profits. Within the veterinary division, like-for-like sales rose 4 per cent and profits grew nearly a quarter to £24.7m. Initiatives such as the healthy pet club scheme - membership numbers there grew 45 per cent to 162,000 - and a focus on lucrative referral work, helped drive that performance. So did improved productivity, sales of own-brand products and four new out-of-hours centres. The veterinary referral business is a key priority. In July CVS acquired a Hampshire site that will be developed into a large multi-disciplinary referrals centre and will open in 2015.
Elsewhere, the laboratories division grew profit by 19 per cent to £1.3m, while earnings from the crematoria division jumped 60 per cent to £1.6m. Since the year-end, CVS has acquired six surgeries, bringing the total to 268.
Broker Peel Hunt expects pre-tax profit for 2015 of £17m, giving EPS of 23.2p (from £14.3m and 19p in 2014).
| CVS GROUP (CVSG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 356p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 207m | |
| TOUCH: | 352-356p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 360p | LOW: 235p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | PE RATIO: | 43 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 54p* | NET DEBT: | 100% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 86 | 3.8 | 5.7 | nil |
| 2011 | 101 | 4.3 | 6.2 | 1 |
| 2012 | 109 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 1.5 |
| 2013 | 120 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 2 |
| 2014 | 143 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 2.5 |
| % change | +19 | +15 | +17 | +25 |
Ex-div:04 Dec Payment:22 Dec *Includes intangible assets of £58.8m or 101p a share | ||||
