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.

CVS Group will report its annual results on Tuesday, and I think it's worth investigating for a number of reasons. Firstly, its share price has gained around 50% over the past 12 months to stand at 142p today, and that's usually a sign of something good. And secondly, it's a quoted veterinary services provider, and there are precious few of those, in a very profitable business that should surely have a good long-term future.

Back in July, CVS told us that full-year results should be in line with expectations, so we should be hearing of earnings of around 14p per share, putting the company currently on a P/E of 10 -- and 2013 forecasts have that falling to under 9. There's not a much in the way of dividends yet, but CVS is a growing company.

We do need to watch out for debt, but at the interim stage it was falling, and was down to £31.6m. We should hopefully see further reduction.

CVS GROUP plc

("CVS", the "Company" or the "Group")



Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 June 2012



http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4451114

CVS proves pet care pays with second dividend
Tue 25 Sep 2012

CVSG - CVS Group

Latest Prices
Name Price %
CVS Group 147.00p +3.52%

FTSE AIM All-Share 709 -0.27%
General Retailers 1,823 +0.02%

LONDON (SHARECAST) - CVS Group, the rapidly expanding veterinary surgery chain, has reported growing revenues and its second ever dividend as pet owners have continued to splash the cash during the dog days of the recession.

In the 12 months to the end of June CVS grew revenue by 7.1% to £108.7m while like-for-like sales increased by 2.9%.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation have increased by 7.9% to £15.7m (2011: £14.5m).

Cash generated amounted to £15.5m down from the 2011 figure of £17.6m; reflecting a one-off improvement in supplier payment terms in the prior year.

Profits before tax decreased by 11.3% to £3.8m after a one off charge related to new financing terms agreed at the end of 2011.

In December last year CVS paid its maiden dividend of 1p per share, and it’s now announced a further dividend of 1.5p per share.

CVS does appear to be going places. The stock price has risen 62% in the last year and the number of surgeries now absorbed into the chain has reached 231. CVS is the biggest employer in the UK veterinary profession with approximately 2,300 staff, including around 550 vets.

To counter the recession the group is focusing on its loyalty programme, which aims to improve customers purchases of vaccination and drug sales (which are migrating online).

The Chief Executive Simon Innes said of the results: “The progress made in growing the membership of our loyalty schemes and the expansion of our e-commerce activities have been notable achievements in the year. We continue to focus on organic growth whilst also developing new revenue streams and continuing to grow through selective strategic acquisitions."

One person who won’t be around much longer at the firm is Chief Financial Officer, Paul Coxon, who will leave at the end of the calendar year.

Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" rating, saying "CVS has exceeded our expectations on most measures, reflecting a strong performance across the board. LFL [like-for-like] revenue progress has been pleasing and continues to deliver positive momentum into the current year."

The broker has maintained its forecasts at this juncture, but believes there could be "some upside potential from a variety of sources (organic, M&A, e-commerce) as we progress through the year."

CVS shares were up 4.9% at 11am.

At 29 times forecast earnings for 2013-14,cvs shares look highly rated. With profit margins set to continue improving and the dividend growing usefully, the shares still have long-term merit. A buy in this weeks IC.

CVS: Panmure Gordon raises target from 160p to 188p, buy rating unchanged.

Moving up nice, not a dog this one. lol

:-))

CVS adjusted earnings up 5.2%

13 March 2013 | 08:45am

StockMarketWire.com - Veterinary services provider CVS Group reports strong first half results with further growth in revenue and underlying profit in line with the board's forecasts.

Revenue for the six months to the end of December rose to £58.3m (2011: £54.0m) and like-for-like sales increased by 4.0%.

The group said this continued the trend of sustained improvement that is particularly pleasing in an economic environment where consumer spending remains under considerable pressure.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 5.2% to £8.2m but adjusted EBITDA margins fell slightly to 14.1% (2011 full year: 14.4%, 2011 half year: 14.5%), primarily reflecting the competitive pressures in the group's laboratory business.

Operating profit increased to £3.6m (2011: £3.5m) and adjusted profit before tax increased to £3.0m (2011: £2.7m after adding back the exceptional interest expense of £1.6m).

Basic earnings per share increased from 1.7p to 3.7p and adjusted earnings per share rose from 7.8p to 8.3p.

At 8:45am: [LON:CVSG] share price was +2p at 188p

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CVS Group: Panmure Gordon shifts target price from 200p to 208p and leaves its hold recommendation unaltered. Investec moves target price from 163p to 201p, while downgrading from buy to add.

For anyone interested a buy in this weeks Shares mag.

The 3 analysts offering 12 month price targets for CVS Group Plc have a median target of 205.00, with a high estimate of 208.00 and a low estimate of 185.00. The median estimate represents a 7.05% increase from the last price of 191.50.

One of eight small caps in this weeks Shares mag set to soar.

Conservatively-pitched estimates from broker N+1 Singer for the year to June point to 9% growth in adjusted taxable profits to£12.2 million and earnings up 8% to 15.5p, ahead of £12.9 million and 16.5p by June 2014, to put the stock on just 11.5 times earnings.

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