Virbac climbs over 4% to top the SBF120 index, the day after the animal health group published annual sales that exceeded both management expectations and market consensus.
It reported fourth-quarter sales of €294.9 million, up 15.9% at constant exchange rates, bringing the total for 2022 to almost €1.22 billion, up 9.6% at constant exchange rates, against a target range of 6-9%.
Virbac has benefited from orders from distributors, in anticipation of the list price increases effective January 1, 2023", explains Oddo BHF, which has reaffirmed its "outperform" rating on the stock, with an increased target price.
"Given the advance on the 2022 guidance, we can deduce that the guided operating margin of between 14% and 15% will be achieved. The consensus could well revise its ROC 2022 estimate by 3/4%", adds the analyst.
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Virbac specializes in the research, production and marketing of veterinary medicines. The activity is organized around 2 product families:
- pet medications: pest control drugs, vaccines, antibiotics, anesthetics, anti-inflammatory drugs, mouth/dental care products, ophthalmologic and dermatological products intended for dogs, cats, horses, birds, rodents, etc. The group also offers foods and electronic identification chips;
- livestock medications: pest control drugs and antibiotics intended for cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, etc.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: France (15.4%), Europe (26.2%), Latin America (17.1%), Asia (16.4%), North America (13.2%), Pacific (9.3%), Africa and Middle East (2.4%).
VIRBAC 
