York-based Animalcare Group plc, the international animal health business, said its revenues from continuing operations rose 5% to £36.9 million in the six months to June 30, 2024, “with increases in both price and volume and growth across all three product categories, notably in production animals and equine.”
Statutory profit after tax incorporating non-underlying items and discontinued operations was £18.8 million (H1 2023: £1.6m).
“Animalcare is pleased to report a positive first half performance following strong revenue growth in our operations and improved levels of cash conversion,” said the York firm.
“With our transformed balance sheet following the sale of Identicare and minority interest in STEM, we are focused on utilising this strong financial position in pursuit of opportunities through M&A, licensing, partnerships and investing in our R&D pipeline to accelerate growth and create long-term value for shareholders …
“Group pharmaceutical revenues for the period improved to £36.9m, an increase of 5.0% … with the key contributors being strong growth in Daxocox and Plaqtiv+ together with double digit growth in our Production Animals and Equine portfolios.”
Animalcare has declared an interim dividend of 2p per share, in line with prior year period.
Animalcare CEO Jenny Winter said: “I’m delighted to report that we delivered a positive performance for the first six months of 2024 characterised by increased revenues and profits and improved cash conversion.
“Production Animals and Equine made notable contributions to sales, underlining the importance of these segments of our markets to our overall business while our Plaqtiv+ dental range and Daxocox osteoarthritis treatment returned strong double-digit revenue growth for Companion Animals.
“The divestment of Identicare and disposal of our minority stake in STEM Animal Health Inc. in the first half have had a transformative effect on our balance sheet yielding cash of £27.7m net of expenses.
“The resultant positive cash position equips the group with significantly increased flexibility and firepower as we maintain our pursuit of organic and inorganic investment opportunities to drive sustainable growth in line with our long-term strategy.
“Looking to the rest of 2024, we are confident that the group’s full year results will be in line with market expectations.”