LONDON (Alliance News) - Premier Veterinary Group PLC said Wednesday its number of revenue generating pets on plan increased in the first quarter, giving the company confidence for the year ahead.
Premier Veterinary - which provides healthcare plans for pets - said its fee generating plans increased 30% year-on-year to 262,000 in the first quarter of 2019 financial year to December-end.
At the end the first quarter of 2018 financial year, Premier Veterinary had 201,000 plans. In the final quarter of 2018 financial, the company had 244,000 plans.
At the end of 2018, Premier Veterinary had cash of about GBP400,000 and had drawn down about GBP1.5 million of its GBP2.3 unsecured loan note facility with Bybrook Finance Solutions Ltd. Premier Veterinary director Rajan Uppal is the sole shareholder of Bybrook Finance.
The company said it required additional funding to support its going concern assessment and "maximise its growth opportunities". Premier Veterinary is "confident" of agreeing to terms with Bybrook Finance for a secured loan facility of GBP2.0 million, on top of the GBP1.5 million already drawn.
Crossroads Finance Ltd, a company jointly owned Premier Veterinary Chief Executive Officer Dominic Tonner, and his spouse, is expected to help fund Premier Veterinary, by entering into direct arrangements with Bybrook Finance.
Premier Veterinary said its outlook remains positive. The company also said it is no longer in discussions with a UK corporate group to roll-out its pet healthcare plans across that company's outlets.
The company added that discussions continue with "a number" of " leading veterinary businesses" which could lead to "significant developments", allowing Premier Veterinary to deliver its 2019 growth targets.
In the US, the company has begun the roll out of its contracts with a "major corporate veterinary consolidator", PetVet Care Centers LLC.
The initial contract allowed Premier Veterinary to offer preventative healthcare programmes for pets to 18 of PetVet Care Centers' companion animal hospitals.
After successful completion of the initial pilot, the three-year contract has been extended to cover all of PetVet Care Centers' companion animal hospitals and will see the healthcare programmes launched in all PetVet Care Centers' existing 170 sites over a 6-month period.
The plan was also be launched in hospitals acquired or opened by PetVet Care Centers for the duration of the contract.
Shares in Premier Veterinary closed down 8.1% Wednesday at 40.00 pence each.