CVS Group plc (CVSG) Q2 2024 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning and welcome to our interim results presentation. We are pleased to have delivered a strong set of results with CVS remaining on track to deliver against the ambitions which we outlined in our November 2022 Capital Markets Day. We delivered revenue of £329.9 million in the first half and this represents growth of 11.4% over the prior half year. Like-for-like revenue growth was 6%, remaining comfortably within our ambition of between 4% and 8% per annum. EBITDA was 63 million, an increase of 8.9% over the prior half year. EBITDA margin was 19.1%. And whilst this remains within our stated ambition, it was adversely impacted in the first half, from continued inflationary pressures in utilities and employment costs, alongside our conscious investment in improving support functions. We continue our focus on improving our existing business with £17.2 million capital investment in the first half, within our guidance of investment between £30 million and £15 million per annum. We entered the Australian veterinary services market in July and we completed 17 small animal first opinion practices acquisitions in the first half for consideration of £63.1 million, of which 13 acquisitions were in Australia with the remaining four in the UK. we remain on track to achieve 70% operating cash conversion for the full year, and leverage, which closed the half at 1.15x, remains comfortably below our 2x stated maximum. These first half results reflect the continued execution of our strategy, which is clear and unchanged. Our purpose is to give the best possible care to animals and our vision is to be the veterinary company people most want to work for, underpinned by four strategic pillars and our ESG focus. The first half results demonstrate that this strategy is working and ...