The accounts were audited by the statutory auditors and reviewed by the board of directors on September 13, 2024. The report of the statutory auditors is in the process of being issued. The statements and detailed presentation of the half-year results are available on the website at corporate.virbac.com.
In the first semester, our revenue amounted to €702.9 million compared to €610.5 million in 2023, an overall change of +15.1%. Excluding currency effects, revenue rose significantly by +16.1%. The integration of recently acquired companies (Globion in India and Sasaeah in Japan) contributed +4.8 growth points. At constant exchange rates and scope, first-half organic growth reached +11.3%, favorably impacted by the concomitant increase in volumes and prices (price effect estimated at ~3.5 growth points) despite a slowdown in inflation. It should be noted that this half-year benefited from a favorable basis for comparison, due in particular to the increase in our production capacity for dog and cat vaccines since the beginning of the year.
The Europe area (+12.3% at constant exchange rates and scope) accounted for almost half of the Group's organic growth, benefiting from a strong rebound in the dog and cat vaccine range, as well as increased demand for our petfood/pet care ranges. The excellent performance of North America (+22.2% at constant exchange rates and scope) benefited from both a favorable base effect (following distributors’ destocking effect in early 2023) and sustained sales momentum on our specialty pet products. Latin America (+10.5% at constant exchange rates and scope) benefited from remarkable performances in Chile, Mexico and Central America, which more than offset the slight downturn in Uruguay and Brazil. India continues to fuel our expansion in the India, Middle East and Africa region (+9.6% at constant exchange rates and scope), and recorded a very significant increase (~20% at actual scope) thanks to the expansion of our portfolio following the acquisition of Globion's poultry vaccines. China and South-East Asian countries were behind our growth in Asia (+8.8% at constant exchange rates and scope). Despite a rebound in the second quarter, the Pacific region ended the half-year slightly down (-0.8% at constant exchange rates and scope), penalized by an unfavorable basis for comparison, as business at the start of 2023 benefited from a particularly favorable agricultural and climatic context (prices and herd stock increase).
The current operating income before depreciation of assets arising from acquisitions amounts to €150.4 million, up sharply versus 2023 (€109.9 million). This remarkable increase is due first and foremost to the improvement in our gross margin (+2.7 points), resulting from volume-driven sales growth and a price effect. In addition, we benefited from a base effect, the first half of 2023 being impacted by the under-absorption of our fixed costs linked to the production of our companion animal vaccines. Net expenses rose by €36.8 million, €8.4 million of which relates to the integration of Globion and Sasaeah. At constant scope, net expenses rose by €28.4 million, or 10.4%. This increase in our operating expenses stems mainly from marketing and travel costs in line with the growth in business, increased R&D investments, and higher personnel costs following the impact of salary increment and the strengthening of our workforce, mainly in R&D, sales and manufacturing functions. Our profitability thus continues to grow, with an improvement of 3.4 points to reach a record level of 21.4%. The integration of Globion and Sasaeah had a slightly accretive impact of around 0.5 point on Group profitability. It should be noted that the ratio of R&D expenditure to sales remained stable in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023, due to a phasing effect (an acceleration is expected in the second half of the year) and very strong sales growth momentum.
Consolidated net income stood at €94.9 million, up +26.9% compared to the same period in 2023. Other non-current income and expenses represented a net expense of €2.0 million. They include costs related to the acquisition of Sasaeah (-€4.7 million), partly offset by an asset disposal (€2.5 million) and the unused portion of a restructuring provision. Net financial expense amounted to -€4.8 million, compared with +€0.9 million as of June 30, 2023, a change mainly due to higher borrowing costs of €2.4 million, as well as higher foreign exchange losses (-€3.7 million) as a result of unhedged exposure in Chilean pesos and the currency's depreciation over the period. Lastly, the tax charge rose, mainly in line with business activity.
Net income - Group share amounted €94.7 million, up +26.2% compared to the first half of the previous year (€75.0 million).
On the financial side, our net debt stood at €254.9 million, up €307.3 million compared to December 31, 2023. In addition to the seasonal rise in our working capital requirements and the payment of dividends, this significant increase is due to the acquisition of Sasaeah in Japan on April 1 and the finalization of the buyout of minority interests in Globion, India, on June 21. It should be noted that following our request to activate the accordion clause in our syndicated contract, our banks’ pool agreed to increase their commitment by €150 million, bringing the total commitment to €350 million. This syndicated contract has also been the subject of an amendment unanimously accepted by our banks, including a new accordion clause of €100 million, bringing the potential amount of our credit facility to €450 million.
Outlook
We confirm our revised forecasts: in line with our press release of July 8, 2024, at constant exchange rates and scope, we confirm revenue growth between 7% and 9%, and an adjusted Ebit7 ratio of around 16%. The contribution of recent external growth operations8 is expected to be around +5.5 growth points on revenue, with a slightly accretive impact on Group profitability. At constant exchange rates and scope, revenue growth is therefore expected to be between 12.5% and 14.5%.
Besides, excluding acquisitions, our cash position should improve by €60 million.
7“Current operating income before amortization of assets arising from acquisitions”
8acquisitions of Globion in India and Sasaeah in Japan
ANALYSTS’ PRESENTATION - VIRBAC
We will hold a virtual analyst meeting on Monday, September 16, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. (Paris time - CEST).
Information for participants:
Webcast access link: https://bit.ly/4caYWSu
This access link is available on the corporate.virbac.com site, under the heading “financial press releases.” This link allows participants to access the live and/or archived version of the webcast.
You can ask questions via chat (text) directly during the webcast or after watching the replay at the following email address: finances@virbac.com.
Focusing on animal health, from the beginning
At Virbac, we provide innovative solutions to veterinarians, farmers and animal owners in more than 100 countries around the world. Covering more than 50 species, our range of products and services enables to diagnose, prevent and treat the majority of pathologies. Every day, we are committed to improving animals’ quality of life and to shaping together the future of animal health.
Virbac: Euronext Paris - subfund A - ISIN code: FR0000031577/MNEMO: VIRP
Financial Affairs department: tel. +33 4 92 08 71 32 - email: finances@virbac.com - Website: corporate.virbac.com
APPENDIXES
1. Statement of financial position
See attached PDF
2. Statement of cash flow
See attached PDF
3. Reconciliation tables for alternative performance indicators
3.1. Net debt
3.2. Operating cash flow before interest and taxes
See attached PDF
Attachment
