Animalcare Grp Regulatory News (ANCR)

Animalcare Group plc

("Animalcare")

Post-Close Trading Update & Notice of Results

Animalcare, a leading supplier of veterinary medicines, announces that the Half Yearly Report for the six months ended 31 December 2011 will be released on Monday 20 February 2012.  In keeping with past practice, the Board issues the following trading update ahead of its publication.

We have separately announced today the appointment, effective 31 May 2012, of Chris Brewster as our new Chief Financial Officer.

Trading update

Trading from continuing operations in the year to date continues to be in line with market expectations for the full year, although performance is expected to be more second half weighted than in prior years.   

Total first half revenue is approximately 10% lower than in the comparable period, principally due to a combination of two factors.

The first is the previously described impact of the temporary supply problems with our key product, Buprecare.  Good progress has been made on the re-introduction of the Buprecare based products in our range with the initial launch made in France in December 2011 and with other key markets to follow in the near future.  Other core veterinary medicine business has held up well. 

The second factor is the continuing effect of general economic conditions on sales of companion animal identification microchips and related goods and services. 

Revenue from our pipeline of new veterinary pharmaceuticals continues to grow strongly, with sales of products launched in the previous year showing a 115% increase year on year. In addition, our target of launching four new licensed veterinary medicines each financial year was achieved by the end of October 2011, with these new products already starting to make important contributions to the business.

As mentioned above, our new product development pipeline continues to meet its targets.  The development programme for two other important products is firmly on track which will give us the option of further product launches during the second half of the financial year.

Summary and outlook

The overall veterinary market remains fundamentally sound.  However, those segments more exposed to discretionary spend by pet owners are not immune from the general economic climate. The continued delivery of products from our new product development pipeline allows us to maintain momentum within the business and the Board is confident that as the supply issues for Buprecare are resolved, the business will make good progress in the remainder of the financial year.

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