ANIMALCARE GROUP PLC

Earnings Release • Jan 23, 2020

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RNS Number : 6523A

Animalcare Group PLC

23 January 2020

23 January 2020

Animalcare Group plc

(the "Group" or the "Company")

Trading Update & Notice of Results

23 January 2020. Animalcare Group plc (AIM: ANCR), the international animal health business, today provides the following unaudited trading update in advance of its full year results for the financial year ended 31 December 2019 (the "Year"), which are scheduled to be announced on 31 March 2020.

Highlights:

·    Earnings in line with market expectations

·    Significant improvement in cash conversion versus the prior year

·    Strong net debt reduction of over 30% YoY

·    Launched Procanicare post period end in January 2020

Trading overview

Earnings for the Group for the period to 31 December 2019 were in line with market expectations. The Group's focus on building a strong platform for driving the future growth of the business has been demonstrated by the improvement in all our strategic KPIs and our developing portfolio of new product opportunities. 

Revenue for the year to 31 December 2019 was £71.1m (2018: £72.5m) a decline of 1.5% (c1.0% at constant exchange rate).  Whilst   new product launches accounted for £1.8m additional sales, revenue was impacted by the previously reported supply challenges by £1.7m and the decline in use of antibiotics in production animals of £1m, as expected.

The Company committed to improving its cash performance and reducing net debt during 2019. In line with these objectives, the Company expects to have significantly improved its underlying cash conversion versus the 80% achieved in 2018. Net debt (excluding IFRS16 lease liabilities of c£1.8m) was around £15.9m as at 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: £23.6m), the reduction largely driven by the higher cash conversion noted above and targeted capital expenditure.  

Strategic progress

The Group continues to execute upon its strategic priorities to deliver sustainable, profitable growth.

Product portfolio

·    Resources focused on the promotion of sustainable and higher margin products. Around 25% of product brands are being delisted or divested, with no significant impact to profit

Pipeline

·    Four new products launched over 2019 - Cortacare, Butazocare, Doxycare and Metrocare

·    Planned regulatory approval for one new product and submission of a novel pain product during Q1 2020

Business development

·    Signed an exclusive agreement with American Regent Animal Health to relaunch Adequan in Europe. Relaunch is subject to regulatory approval

·    Signed a new distribution agreement for Procanicare, the first product to be launched across all of the Group's seven territories. The product was launched in January 2020, post period end

Animalcare's Chief Executive Officer, Jenny Winter, commented: "We have made strong progress over the last twelve months delivering our five-pillar strategy alongside the continued drive towards greater integration, simplification and efficiency. This is reflected in our improving cash position and strengthening financial measures, despite the impact of the external manufacturing and supply issues we faced throughout 2019. We will continue to focus over 2020 on further building out the platform to strengthen the long-term growth and sustainability of our business."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

For further information, please contact:

Animalcare Group plc	Tel: 01904 487 687
Jenny Winter, Chief Executive Officer
Chris Brewster, Chief Financial Officer
Panmure Gordon (Nominated Adviser & Broker)	Tel: 020 7886 2500
Corporate Finance
Freddy Crossley / Emma Earl
Corporate Broking
James Stearns
Consilium Strategic Communications	animalcare@consilium-comms.com
Amber Fennell/Angela Gray/Olivia Manser

About Animalcare (www.animalcaregroup.com)

Animalcare Group plc is a UK AIM listed veterinary sales and marketing organisation, operating in seven countries and exports to approximately 32 countries in Europe and a further 16 worldwide. The company is focused on bringing new and innovative products to market through its own development pipeline, partnerships and via acquisition.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

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