Shares of Chesire-based international veterinary drugs giant Dechra Pharmaceuticals rose another 2% on Monday after it published a trading update covering the group’s financial year ended June 30, 2021.

The firm said the stronger than expected trading performance it reported on June 8 “continued for the remainder of the period as anticipated.”

The company’s CEO said people have been spending more time with their pets and “have therefore been more cognitive of their welfare.”

Dechra shares are now trading around £46.60 and have soared about 60% over the past 12 months to give the firm a current stock market value of about £5 billion.

“The board is pleased to report that the stronger than expected trading performance as outlined in our recent trading update on 8 June 2021 continued for the remainder of the period as anticipated,” said Dechra.

“The group delivered excellent year on year organic revenue growth supplemented by the product acquisitions of Osurnia and Mirataz both of which delivered good incremental growth.”

Dechra reported group revenue for the period increased by 21% at constant exchange rate (CER) and 18% at actual exchange rate (AER).

Dechra CEO Ian Page said: “We are pleased to have continued to outperform a robust market throughout the pandemic affected financial year.

“We have benefited from above average market growth in the majority of our key CAP markets.

“The reasons for this growth are not yet fully clear with evidence of increased companion animal numbers remaining unconfirmed at this point.

“What is clear is that people have been spending more time with their pets and have therefore been more cognitive of their welfare.

“Thanks to the exceptional effort of our talented people our business has operated well throughout the pandemic; all manufacturing sites and laboratories have remained operational and communication with customers has been excellent through increased use of digital media.”