Acquisition & Trading Update

RNS Number : 1616M

CVS Group plc

19 May 2010

 



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

Acquisition of veterinary surgery group and update on Group trading

Acquisition

CVS, one of the UK's leading providers of veterinary services, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ark Alliance Limited, ("Ark"), a four site veterinary practice group based in North Yorkshire, trading as Battle Flatts Veterinary Clinic and Applegarth Veterinary Surgery.

The acquisition brings the total number of practices acquired to date in 2010 to 37 including two veterinary hospitals, a laboratory and a referral centre.

In total the group now operates 205 surgeries, 6 diagnostic labs and 1 crematoria across the UK and remains the largest operator in a highly fragmented market with a significant pipeline of further acquisition opportunities.

CVS will assume all management responsibilities for Ark following completion of the acquisition. In line with the Company's strategy, administration will be consolidated within the Company's central facilities, providing  cost synergies and benefits following the acquisition.

In the year ended 31 August 2009, Ark achieved profit before tax of GBP141,000 on turnover of approximately GBP1,799,000. The consideration includes the acquisition of GBP129,000 of fixed assets at the year end and CVS will also acquire the remaining assets net of liabilities. The consideration for the acquisition is being met entirely from internally generated cash. The practice employs 9 professional vets and 31 staff in total.

Commenting on the acquisition, CVS Chief Executive Simon Innes said: "Ark is a quality, well established practice group and we are delighted to be continuing to add to our portfolio following our acquisitions earlier in the year whilst continuing to pursue a strong pipeline of further acquisition opportunities. We look forward to working with the team at Ark to help continue the high level of animal care and customer service that they have been delivering to date."

Update on trading

Like-for-like sales (after adjusting for the weather affected months of December 2009 and January 2010) are still showing modest growth in the year despite the challenging economic environment. In addition the Group has undertaken a significant level of acquisition activity this year albeit an unusually disproportionate amount of this has taken place in the latter part of the financial year. Overall therefore the Directors anticipate that results for the current year will be slightly below current expectations.

Next year will see the benefit of the acquisition activity this year, including the larger single acquisition of the Pet Doctors business in March. In addition, the acquisition pipeline continues to be encouraging and the Board believes that the Group is well positioned for future growth.

For further enquiries please contact:

CVS Group plc Simon Innes, Chief Executive Paul Coxon, Finance Director	01379 644 288
Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking Richard Jones/Matt Davis Paul Mason	0845 059 6740
Buchanan Communications Richard Oldworth Suzanne Brocks Ben Romney	020 7466 5000

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