2005 Annual report - Virbac
2005 Annual report - Virbac
2005 Annual report - Virbac
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30<br />
on 29 April <strong>2005</strong>, and those for 2004 on 30 August <strong>2005</strong>.<br />
The main suits (investigation by the Securities exchange<br />
commission and a class action suit by shareholders) were<br />
settled;<br />
◆ The bid in December <strong>2005</strong> to buy the shares in the US<br />
subsidiary <strong>Virbac</strong> Corporation not already held, namely<br />
39.7% of the share capital at a price of 4.15 US dollars<br />
per share, representing a total purchase price of around<br />
37 million US dollars;<br />
◆ The continued improvement in the Group’s financial<br />
position with consolidated net debt falling to<br />
€14.8 million, namely 10% of Group shareholders’ equity<br />
compared respectively to €37.9 million and 31% at<br />
end 2004.<br />
Business activities in <strong>2005</strong><br />
Pro forma at constant exchange rates, Group sales rose by<br />
4.9% in <strong>2005</strong>, with growth in both segments: +7.5% in the<br />
companion animal market, +2.2% in the food producing<br />
animal business.<br />
Trends per segment<br />
Companion animals<br />
This business accounts for 63% of Group sales. All segments<br />
helped grow sales except for electronic identification, which<br />
had a particularly strong 2004.<br />
❖ Parasiticides<br />
This segment grew by 17.8% on 2004.<br />
This performance largely stemmed from the US subsidiary’s<br />
success with Iverhart+ ® (wormer for heart worms) which<br />
benefited from an extension in its use-by period and the<br />
withdrawal from the market at end 2004 of a competing<br />
product.<br />
In Europe, growth was driven by the strong performance<br />
of collars and external parasiticides, as well as the launch<br />
of Preventic ® spot-on (external parasiticide treatment) in<br />
Germany.<br />
In Latin America, <strong>Virbac</strong> Brazil successfully launched a local<br />
range of external and internal parasiticides.<br />
❖ Immunology<br />
This business grew by 5.5% in <strong>2005</strong>.<br />
Despite strong competition in the dog vaccine market,<br />
Group sales rose on the back of Germany in Europe,<br />
Colombia and Mexico in Latin America and Australia<br />
in the Pacific. The decline in sales in France can be explained<br />
by the tailing off of the vaccination drive that followed<br />
the discovery of a case of canine rabies in southern France<br />
in 2004. In Europe, the cat vaccine business faced fierce<br />
competition following the launch of a new range, but <strong>Virbac</strong><br />
undertook a series of major campaigns that enabled it to<br />
protect its positions.<br />
Sales of Virbagen ® Omega (leading interferon in the<br />
veterinary market) rose across Europe but particularly in<br />
the United Kingdom which benefited, more than other<br />
countries, from the extension of the marketing authorisation<br />
to cats.<br />
❖ Antibiotics/Dermatology<br />
These ranges grew overall by 3.4% on 2004. In dermatology,<br />
sales of Epi-Otic ® (ear cleanser) performed well in all areas.<br />
The antibiotic segment also grew thanks to the launch of<br />
Rilexine ® (marketed under the Rilexipet ® brand) in Japan<br />
and this product’s strong performance in Spain. In France,<br />
<strong>Virbac</strong> caused a stir by launching, at the end of the year,<br />
the new version of Rilexine ® palatable tablets with the total<br />
compliance programme and the goal of regaining its<br />
leadership position in this segment and is getting ready<br />
to launch it in the main European markets in early 2006.<br />
❖ Specialities<br />
Specialties, which includes the dental range, anaesthetics,<br />
ophthalmologic products, anti-inflammatories,<br />
endocrinology and reproduction, saw a 12.2% rise in <strong>2005</strong>.<br />
The dental range saw strong growth in <strong>2005</strong> on the back of<br />
a very strong performance in America where the animal<br />
dental care market is expanding rapidly. Asia also<br />
contributed to this strong performance with the launch of<br />
dental care chews in Japan. The launch of a competing<br />
dental range in Europe resulted, on the other hand, in a<br />
slight decline in sales.<br />
The anaesthetic range profited from the success of Zoletil ®<br />
(general anaesthetic) which saw double-digit growth in<br />
<strong>2005</strong>.<br />
Sales of ophthalmologic products rose thanks to the launch<br />
of VT Phak eyes in May <strong>2005</strong> (ophthalmologic drops) and<br />
Regefluid ® as a replacement for Humiscreen (artificial tears)<br />
in May <strong>2005</strong>.<br />
The anti-inflammatory and motricity function range owes its<br />
growth to the strong performance of Fortiflex ® (nutritional<br />
supplement used for motricity function disorders) in France<br />
and Japan where a version enriched with two new<br />
ingredients was launched in <strong>2005</strong>.<br />
The strong growth in the endocrinology range stems from<br />
strong sales of Soloxine ® in the United States (hormone<br />
against canine hypothyroidism) which regained its<br />
leadership position in the market in <strong>2005</strong>. Lastly, the<br />
reproduction range rose slightly in <strong>2005</strong>, following a<br />
slowdown in the growth in sales of Alizine ® (contraceptive<br />
for cats and dogs).