Description of CVS’ business

CVS Group Plc is one of the Leading veterinary services provider in the UK. The Group has four main business areas: veterinary practices, diagnostic laboratories, pet crematoria and Animed Direct, our online business. The passion of our people for animals and for making your pets our priority is at the heart of our work every day. CVS operates 256 surgeries, usually trading under local business names. These surgeries include three locations which are wholly referral practices providing first class specialist treatment. We have also launched Pet Medic Recruitment business which recruits locums and permanent staff for both our own and third party practices and a buying group known as Mi Vet Club. During the 2013 we began the development of our own brand, MiPet, products. The first two products, Pro-bind (a gut protective) and Active+ (a joint supplement), were launched in July 2013. The own brand label will protect our market as well as our margins and, whilst the initiative is currently limited in scale, further products will be developed during 2014.

CVS(UK)Limited was established in August 1999 to acquire and operate veterinary practices which were well established within their local communities and had a reputation for high quality service. The Company strategy recognises that the value of veterinary businesses lies in the quality of their staff and the relationship they enjoy with their existing clients.




Professional management expertise and other services are therefore provided centrally to all Group practices, relieving them of their administrative burden and enabling local staff to concentrate on clinical care.

The Directors believe that several factors are currently contributing to a growth in the market for veterinary services in the UK, based on growing and ageing pet populations, advances in veterinary medical science, changes in the demographic profile of the human population and a growth in the pet insurance industry.

Building on these underlying growth prospects, and capitalising on other drivers that are encouraging vets to sell their practices to corporate operators, CVS has expanded by acquisition into the market and established a leading position as a national consolidator and operator of veterinary practices and laboratories.

CVS is incorporated in England and currently operates in England, Wales and Scotland.

Tuesday -
CVS Group: Investec reiterates add and lifts target price to 216p from 205p.

CVS hits target. A buy in this weeks IC - Veterinary services company CVS (CVSG) seems to be reaping the benefits from its turnaround programme after bad weather in the first half barely dented its operational performance. The popularity of its membership scheme for pets helped the company record like-for-like sales growth of 3.4% for the year so far. The impact of the loyalty schemes is such that they now contribute over 9% to CVS's overall sales. Meanwhile the lower-margin Animed Direct, which supplies medicines and treatments over the internet, also showed good progress, with revenues doubling to £6.7m compared with this time last year. There were also four more acquisitions of vet practices during the half.

CVS looks likely to hit targets for this year, but with even the re-rating, the shares are still attractively priced at a forward PE ratio of 13.

Shares -The rally should have further to run, as market share gains and forecast upgrades sustain the rating.

Interims Fri 21 March

Interim Results

Revenue growth of 18.0%

· Like-for-like sales increase of +4.6%

· Adjusted EBITDA up at £9.5m (+15.3%)

· Adjusted EPS 9.8p (+22.5%)

· Net debt £32.1 (June 2013: £30.0)

· Seven practice acquisitions during the period

· Our third Crematorium, Silvermere Haven, acquired after the period end

· Loyalty scheme membership increased by over 24% to 139,000



http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4776858

CVS: Panmure Gordon increases target price from 245p to 323p and reiterates a hold recommendation.

Been a steady climber.

Woof, woof. :-))

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Trading Update

RNS


RNS Number : 7799M

CVS Group plc

21 July 2014






21 July 2014



CVS Group plc ("CVS" or the "Group")



Trading Update



CVS, the UK's leading provider of integrated veterinary services, is pleased to provide the following trading update in respect of the financial year ended 30 June 2014. Comparative data relates to the year ended 30 June 2013 unless otherwise stated. The Group will announce its full year results on Friday 19 September 2014 and these are expected to be in line with market expectations.



Group revenue for the year showed total like-for-like growth of 6.9%. This figure benefitted from good weather throughout the winter months and is stated after adjusting for one extra day's trading in the year to 30 June 2013. Like-for-like sales performance was strong in all the main businesses, particularly in Animed Direct. CVS continues to see opportunities for organic growth across all of its activities and continues to invest in the estate to capitalise on this potential.



Strong organic growth has been achieved in the core veterinary practices especially in the second half of the year. Membership of our Healthy Pet Club loyalty schemes grew by 50,100 (44.8%), from 111,900 pets at the start of the year to 162,000 at the year end. In the previous year membership grew by 46,400. Based on the current run rate these schemes are now contributing over 11% of the total revenue from practices (2013: 9%).



The scale and increasing density of our practice network has enabled the Group to open four emergency out-of-hours centres during the year, bringing work previously performed by third parties into the Group. Further opportunities for similar changes will be sought during 2015.



Good progress has been made in developing our referrals business with organic growth continuing in the centres that we already operate. In July 2014 we purchased the freehold of Lumbry Park, Alton, Hampshire for £800,000 and we are now developing plans for fitting it out as a first-class multi-disciplinary referral centre. This centre is expected to open in the summer of 2015.



It is pleasing to report that significant growth has continued in Animed Direct, our online dispensary. It is currently generating some £10.4 million of annualised revenue, based on revenue for June 2014, compared with £6.7 million based on June 2013. The varying regulatory requirements in Europe have led to a slight delay in launching our planned local language European websites and the first is now expected to be launched within the next few months.



Acquisition activity has continued to play an important part in the Group's strategy. In addition to the seven practices acquired in the first half of the year, three practices - 3 Mile (Glasgow), Ashfield (3 sites around Halifax) and Castle (3 sites in Barnard Castle, County Durham) - and a pet crematorium (Silvermere Haven in Cobham) were acquired during the second half. These acquisitions extend the Practice Division's operations and the practices are an excellent geographic fit with the Group's existing surgeries. The acquisition of Silvermere Haven is an important step in the geographic development of our Crematoria Division and will allow almost all of our practices to be serviced internally.



All of the acquisitions have been successfully integrated into the Group. The aggregate turnover of acquisitions in their last financial year prior to acquisition totalled £13.3 million. The actual post acquisition turnover of businesses acquired during the year ended 30 June 2014 was £6.6m.



The Group now operates a total of 262 veterinary practices across the UK, an on-line dispensary, 5 diagnostic laboratories and 3 pet crematoria.





The Board is encouraged by the recent improvement in like-for-like sales performance, the continuing potential for further acquisitions and the general progress in all divisions of the Group.

1 Aug Berenberg 410.00 Buy

Final Results


· Revenue up 19.0% to £142.9m

· Like-for-like5 sales growth for the Group of +6.9%

· Animed Direct revenue up 74.3% to £8.5m

· Healthy Pet Club members up over 45% to 162,000

· Adjusted EBITDA up 19.7% to £19.7m

· Adjusted earnings per share up 17.3% to 19.0 pence per share

· Acquired and integrated 18 surgeries during the year

· 6 surgeries acquired after the year end

· Now operate 268 surgeries

· Acquired Silvermere Haven Crematorium


http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4888522

Sharecast -


CVS Group non-exec more than doubles stake

Mon, 27 October 2014

CVS Group non-exec more than doubles stake

CVS Group said on Monday that one of its non-executive directors, Mike McCollum, more than doubled his stake in the veterinary services provider.
McCollum bought 30,000 shares at 370p apiece, taking his holding to 50,000.

The £111,000 purchase comes around a month after the group posted a 17.8% year-on-year rise in pre-tax profits to £14.3m.

Revenues were up 19% at £142.9m and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 19.7% to £19.7m.

The share price has risen almost 7% since the publication of the results.

The group proposed a dividend payment of 2.5p, up 0.5p from a year earlier.

The good news has helped shares rise almost 7% in the period since their release. They are up more than 42% in the year-to-date.

Signal Update

Our system’s recommendation today is to BUY. The BULLISH STOP LOSS pattern finally received a confirmation because the prices crossed above the Stop Loss level which was at 374.7500, and our valid average buying price stands now at 390.5000. The previous SELL signal was issued on 15/10/2014, 20 days ago, when the stock price was 370.5000. Since then CVSG.L has risen by +5.40%.

Market Outlook

A rally after a bear setup can occasionally turn into an explosive long trade. We may be on the verge of catching one of them. There is now a strong positive sentiment in the market despite the absence of a bullish pattern. The bullish stop loss is finally confirmed and a BUY signal is generated. Market wants to reward the bulls. It may be now the right time to be part of this boost and bullish market sentiment by joining the growing bullish crowd.



http://www.britishbulls.com/SignalPage.aspx?lang=en&Ticker=CVSG.L

Ex dividend Thurs 4 Dec 2.5p

CVS Group: PeelHunt ups target price from 400p to 475p and maintains a 'buy' recommendation

10 Dec Investec 510.00 Buy

Final dividend
The directors are recommending a final dividend for the year ended 30 June 2014 of two and a half pence per ordinary share. If approved, the final dividend will be paid on 22 December 2014 to shareholders whose names appear on the register at the close of business on 5 December 2014.

CVS Group: Berenberg raises target price from 410p to 560p and maintains a 'buy' recommendation

Jim Slater -


Jim Slater has a substantial holding in CVS, which operates vets’ practices and pet cemeteries

My family has a substantial shareholding in CVS Group, which at 472p has a market value of £280m. Yet another of Peel Hunt’s 17 top growth picks, the company operates veterinary practices and diagnostic businesses, pet crematoria and an online pharmacy. In Britain 46pc of households have pets and the pet population is continuing to grow rapidly. CVS has excellent free cash flow and frequently uses it to make acquisitions to increase its network of surgeries across the country. The shares are on a high prospective p/e ratio of 21, but with forecasts of strong growth which are likely to be revised upwards because “like-for-like” sales, which strip out the effects of new surgeries, were up by 8.7pc in the first four months of the firm’s financial year



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/shares-and-stock-tips/11376838/Jim-Slater-two-more-IHT-free-Aim-shares-to-add-to-your-portfolio.html

3 Feb Investec 571.00 Buy

Shares - CVS (CVSG:AIM) 467.25p
The second-largesT veterinary services
business in the UK has 272 vet practices
across the country. We’d argue cVs has
attractive defensive qualities as pet owners
will always shell out the cash for any
treatment as pets are generally considered
as family members. The pet insurance
market continues to expand and consumer
confidence is also growing – adding up to
an attractive backdrop for the small cap
business as spending increases on pet
healthcare. cVs has bought 20 new vet
practices annually since 2007 and intends
to keep consolidating the industry. It is expanding in the large animal
market, so expect horses and farm animals to play a bigger role for
revenue generation – handy as they account for nearly half the £2.9
billion UK vet services markets, says Berenberg. The bank forecasts
£17 million pre-tax profit for 2015, rising to £19 million in 2016. The
dividend isn’t overly generous on a prospective 0.6% yield, but 7.7%
compound annual growth rate in eBITda forecast for the next three
years is attractive.