There's palpable pride in chief executive Ian Meneer's voice when he talks about the progress at Animalcare (ANCR) over the past 13 years. In that time, he has overseen the transformation of the company from a small generics business to a multinational veterinary medicines specialist.
But, most importantly, that development is beginning to show in the numbers. Licensed veterinary medicines and animal welfare products both reported double-digit revenue growth in the period. The former now contributes 67 per cent of total sales and benefited from the launch of four new products, including one from the group's in-house development pipeline. But the companion animal identification division struggled in a competitive environment and strong comparable figures after compulsory dog micro-chipping was brought into the UK in 2016. Revenue there fell 9.2 per cent.
Encouragingly, overseas expansion is progressing ahead of schedule. Revenues from non-UK licensed veterinary medicines rose 38 per cent to £0.72m, while the group grew market share across its existing territories and added distribution partners in three new ones, including its first foray into Asia.
Broker Panmure Gordon expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £3.6m for the year to June 2017, giving EPS of 14.9p (from £3.2m and 13p in FY2016).
ANIMALCARE GROUP (ANCR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 315p | MARKET VALUE: | £66.8m | |
| TOUCH: | 310-320p | 12-MONTHHIGH: | 318p | LOW: 204p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.1% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 110p* | NET CASH: | £7.0m | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 7.1 | 1.5 | 6.1 | 1.8 |
| 2016 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 7.5 | 2.0 |
| % change | +12 | +21 | +23 | +11 |
Ex-div: 6 Apr Payment: 21 Apr *Includes intangible assets of £16m, or 75p a share | ||||
