Gold Coast-based National Veterinary Care now the biggest listed pet healthcare provider in Australia

ORMEAU-BASED National Veterinary Care says it is now the largest listed veterinary care provider in Australia.

ORMEAU-BASED National Veterinary Care says it is now the largest listed veterinary care provider in Australia.

Chairman Susan Forrester, who made the claim at the company’s annual meeting yesterday, said the company was the largest by virtue of its takeover of the Pet Doctors Group (PDG) in New Zealand and because of “tumult in the market” – a reference to TPG Capital’s takeover bid for sector giant Greencross.

Investors did not rush to buy NVL stock in the wake of the announcement, with shares down 3¢, or 1.44 per cent, at $2.04.

NVL boosted its number of clinics by 23 to 92 after the takeover of PDG, which was funded through a share placement that raised $18 million as well as cash, and debt.

National Veterinary Care CEO Tomas Steenackers with Cleo, a seven-month-old golden retriever. Picture by Scott Fletcher

Further acquisitions have taken the number to 97 veterinary services businesses across Australia and NZ, including four to be settled by January 31.

Ms Forrester said the PDG acquisition was NVL’s largest since it listed in 2015.

“This strategic acquisition is highly complementary to NVL’s service offering,” she said.

“The acquisition materially increases NVL’s scale in NZ to become the market leader in the companion animal sector with a combined network of 33 clinics.

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The significantly larger business will enable NVL to leverage supplier deals and other procurement benefits to achieve growth in the managed services division which launched in NZ in August.”

Ms Forrester said she ­expects further growth to be driven by the so-called ­“humanisation” of pets trend.

“The pet care industry in Australia and New Zealand continues to grow, with pet parents insisting on higher ­levels of care and services for their animals,” she said.

“We expect this ‘humanisation’ trend to continue across the industry, with increasing demand for more complex and high-yielding care options ­supplied through veterinary clinics. The size of our addressable market within Australia and New Zealand is more than $3 billion.”

NVL said organic revenue, at like-for-like practices, grew 2.45 per cent from July to October. The company is targeting underlying revenue growth of 40 per cent above the FY18 figure of $82.2 million.

NVL announced a statutory net profit of $6.23 million in FY18 – 41 per cent higher than the previous period.