Animalcare Group plc, the European animal health business, has reported revenue growth of 16.3% to £72.5m for the year ended December 31, 2018. Underlying EBITDA increased by 21.7% to £11.8m.
Operational highlights included the appointed of Jenny Winter, formerly of AstraZeneca, as CEO last October and the strengthening of the leadership team by the appointment of group functional leaders. In addition, the group has appointed new country managers in Spain, Belgium and the UK.
The non-core wholesale business was sold in the third quarter, in line with a focus on the higher-margin veterinary pharmaceuticals business
Ten new products were launched in 2018 with an additional six submissions made for products that are scheduled for launch this year or early in 2020.
Group chairman Jan Boone said: “Animalcare made good progress in 2018 as we focus on creating a competitive platform for future growth in the global animal health sector. We continue to improve the underlying profitability of the group.”
STRENGTHS
New CEO Jenny Winter said she had been impressed by ‘the competitive strengths of the business and the size of the growth opportunity’.
“Our goal is to deliver sustainable and profitable growth and, to achieve this, we will focus on meeting the needs of vets in therapeutic areas where we have existing strengths and can further add value.
“Improving cash generation is a key focus for the business and we will continue to drive improvements in supply chain efficiency and closely monitor our cost base, whilst selectively investing in future innovation. Achieving this will build an effective and focused organisation that is fit for the future and deliver growth over the next three to five years.”
The group operates in 32 countries in Europe and a further 16 in the rest of the world, and employs more than 110 sales representative and technical experts.
Animalcare’s broad portfolio covers licensed drugs, vaccines and care products including nutraceuticals in the companion animal, equine and production animal segments of the market. In the UK, the group is also one of the leading providers of pet microchips and has a pet reunification service.
