REG - Animalcare Group PLC - H1 Trading Update and Notice of Results

AnimalcareAnnouncement

24/07/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 3114S  Animalcare Group PLC  24 July 2025

24 July 2025

Animalcare Group plc

("Animalcare", the "Company" or the "Group")

 

H1 Trading Update and Notice of Results

Strong contribution from Randlab and continued strategic delivery

 

Animalcare Group Plc (AIM: ANCR), the international animal health business,
provides an unaudited trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2025
(the "Period"), ahead of the expected announcement of the Group's interim
results on 30 September 2025.

 

Highlights

 ·         Group H1 revenue up 18.5% at actual exchange rates ("AER") to £43.8m, or
           20.8% on a constant exchange rate ("CER") basis
 ·         Randlab delivered strong like-for-like organic revenue growth of c. 14% at
           constant currency versus H1 2024(1), in line with expectations and
           demonstrating clear momentum post-acquisition
 ·         Newer products continue to grow strongly, including Daxocox and Plaqtiv+ up c.
           39% and c. 30% respectively, offsetting some decline in older products
 ·         Underlying(2) H1 EBITDA expected to be approximately £9.2m, c. 40% ahead of
           prior period (£6.6m)
 ·         Ongoing negative currency translation impact from the appreciation of Sterling
           - expected to continue in H2 this year
 ·         Net debt at 30 June 2025 was £7.9m excluding lease liabilities, £1.1m lower
           than FY24, with leverage of c.0.7 times underlying EBITDA
 ·         Cash conversion in the period was in line with expectations at the half year
           stage and H1 2024, and is on track with FY25 guidance of 80% (as stated in the
           Group's FY24 annual report)
 ·         Strong position from which to grow through the continued execution of the
           Group's growth strategy, focused on improving the product portfolio, building
           a balanced pipeline and expanding routes to market

 

(1) Extracted from unaudited pre-acquisition records for H1 2024

(2) The Group presents a number of non-GAAP Alternative Performance Measures
(APMs) which exclude non-underlying items. APMs are calculated in line with
the Group's accounting policies and therefore may not be directly comparable
with other companies.

 

Operational Review

 

Positive trading performance

 

The Board is pleased to report an overall positive trading performance in the
period, with the Group delivering revenues of £43.8m, an increase of 18.5% at
AER and 20.8% at CER. This performance consists of steady organic revenue
growth of c. 2% at CER coupled with a strong contribution from Randlab, the
Australian Equine business acquired on 3 January 2025, in trading conditions
which remain varied across our end markets.

 

Randlab contributed £6.4m of revenue in the period, delivering strong
like-for-like organic growth of c. 14% at CER (c. 7% at AER), in line with
expectations for the first half. This performance underlines the strength of
Randlab and reinforces Animalcare's strategic rationale in building a leading
franchise in the global equine market, providing confidence in accelerating
investment in both the Group's domestic and export commercial footprint.

 

Within Companion Animals, the Group's key products, Daxocox and Plaqtiv+,
delivered another period of double-digit growth, up c. 39% and c. 30%
respectively, benefitting from prior approvals in new territories. The Group
continues to launch new products to ensure ongoing evolution of the portfolio.

 

Overall, Companion Animal growth and margins have been impacted in the first
half due to a top 10 product, Conofite, experiencing significantly reduced
sales due to the unexpected implementation of antibiotic consumption
surveillance in January 2025. This impacted topical products such as Conofite
which Animalcare, and others in the industry, believe was unintended. The
Group is optimistic that this will be clarified and any restriction removed,
however the timing of this is uncertain.

 

Successful launches in H1 include ProAuris and ProAtop: innovative, microbiome
enhancing topical skin and ear preparations containing live bacteria. The
Group has also entered into a strategic alliance with YUN, a Belgian biotech
innovator in the field of probiotics.

 

Revenues within Production Animals grew in the first half, driven by demand
for a number of the Group's larger-selling brands, while Equine sales
(excluding Randlab) were broadly in line with the prior period, underpinned by
continuing momentum in Danilon.

 

The Board expects underlying(2) EBITDA in the period to be approximately
£9.2m (H1 2024: £6.6m) with the growth on the prior period principally
reflecting Randlab's significant contribution to EBITDA, underpinned by its
high gross margins, further enhancing the Group's overall profitability.

 

As flagged at the time of the Group's FY24 Results, with c. 80-85% of Group
revenues generated outside the UK, the appreciation of Sterling has a negative
currency translation effect on the Group's results. The Board expects this
effect to continue in the second half of this financial year.

 

Cash conversion has continued to be healthy, in line with expectations. The
Group's balance sheet remains strong, with net debt excluding lease
liabilities at 30 June 2025 of £7.9m (31 December 2024: £9.0m), providing
the platform and funding headroom to continue to invest in the Group's
strategic growth drivers.

 

Building a balanced pipeline and portfolio

 

Central to the Group's strategy has been improving the sustainability of its
portfolio, through both the rationalisation of products, focusing on novel and
differentiated brands, and growing owned and long-term license products. As
part of this, the Group is committed to increasing investment in its
development pipeline, whether that be through life cycle management projects
or innovative technology.

 

During the period, the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products ("CVMP") of
the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion for a grouping of
variations requiring assessment to add a new indication to Daxocox for the
treatment of pain and inflammation associated with orthopaedic or soft tissue
surgery. This permits broader market access and reinforces the Group's growth
ambitions for the Daxocox franchise.

 

The Period saw the approval of the Plaqtiv+ range and Orozyme for distribution
in Australia, Hemosilate in UA, and Metrocare and Doxycare in UAE. A total of
27 new applications are in progress.

 

Further M&A progress

 

Animalcare has continued to build scale internationally, notably via the 25%
strategic equity investment in InVetro Pty Ltd, announced on 13 June 2025, an
Australian-based Companion Animal health business, expanding Animalcare's
presence in the growing Asia-Pacific veterinary market.

 

 

Jenny Winter, Chief Executive Officer of Animalcare commented:

 

"The success of our strategic initiatives are now starting to flow through
into our financial results, with the Group delivering substantial revenue
growth. Our newly acquired Australian equine business, Randlab, has performed
strongly post acquisition, and our key products, Plaqtiv+ and Daxocox, have
continued to grow. We continue to achieve new marketing authorisations across
our product portfolio, providing the pathway to expanded market access in
future periods. This, coupled with continued investment in our development
pipeline, means we are increasingly well positioned to address the evolving
demands of the growing global veterinary market."

 

 

For more information, please contact:

 Animalcare Group Plc                                                                                                                 +44 (0)1904 487 687

 Jenny Winter, Chief Executive Officer

Chris Brewster, Chief Financial Officer

Media/investor relations

                                                                                                                                      communications@animalcaregroup.com

 Stifel (Nominated Advisor & Joint Broker)                                                                                            Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600

 Ben Maddison, Nicholas Harland, Francis North

 Panmure Liberum (Joint Broker)                                                                                                       +44 (0)20 7886 2500

 Corporate Finance - Freddy Crossley/Emma Earl

 Corporate Banking - Rupert Dearden

 Alma Strategic Communications                                                                                                        +44 (0)20 3405 0205

 Caroline Forde, Kinvara Verdon, Rose Docherty                                                                                        animalcare@almastrategic.com (mailto:animalcare@almastrategic.com)

 

About Animalcare

Animalcare Group plc is a UK AIM-listed international veterinary sales and
marketing organisation. Animalcare operates in seven European countries as
well as Australia and New Zealand and exports to approximately 40 countries in
Europe and worldwide. The Group is focused on bringing new and innovative
products to market through its own development pipeline, partnerships and via
acquisition.

 

For more information about Animalcare, please visit www.animalcaregroup.com
(http://www.animalcaregroup.com)

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