Analysts have again raised profit forecasts for CVS Group (CVSG), following a bullish set of half-year results. Charles Hall of Peel Hunt said the upgrade marked his fourth for the veterinary services group in the past year alone. He now expects full-year pre-tax profit to come in at £18.8m, giving EPS of 26p - a 6 per cent upgrade on the previous estimates and a big improvement on last year's £15.6m pre-tax profit figure.
CVS reported that adjusted pre-tax profit in the first half jumped by more than a third to £9.5m. That was driven by a 10 per cent increase in like-for-like sales as well as acquisitions: the group bought one crematorium and 10 veterinary surgeries in the period, and a further five clinics after the period-end.
All divisions performed well. Membership numbers in the Healthy Pet Club scheme swelled 39 per cent to 192,000, and the veterinary referrals and out-of-hours businesses were also star performers. Overall, sales in the core veterinary practice division grew 18 per cent to £72m, while cash profits climbed by a quarter to £13.2m. Meanwhile, the laboratory business enjoyed a 29 per cent jump in sales to £6.3m, and crematorium revenues doubled to £1.2m.
| CVS GROUP (CVSG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 504p | MARKET VALUE: | £298m | |
| TOUCH: | 503-506p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 509p | LOW: 285p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 47 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 58p* | NET DEBT: | 83% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 68.8 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 2014 | 81.9 | 5.2 | 7.0 | 0 |
| % change | +19 | +63 | +52 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of £58.9m, or 99p a share | ||||
