Huvepharma set to list on Euronext
The company’s diversified product portfolio includes high margin areas in enzymes, coccidiostats, feed additives, veterinary products and vaccines.
It claimed consistent sales growth over the past three years, with revenues of €588m and an EBITDA of €167m in 2020. The EBITDA margin was 28.4%, reported the Sofia based group.
In terms of this year’s financial results to date, Huvepharma confirmed that, for the three months ended March 31, 2021, the group’s revenue increased by 11.2% compared to the three months in the year prior, with all segments seeing positive growth.
“The sale of feed additive products was particularly boosted by the rollout of Monimax in Europe and Monovet in the US. The revenue generated from sales to the rest of the world increased by 30.9% as customers shifted supply from Asia to Huvepharma as a more reliable supplier during the pandemic.”
It has three manufacturing facilities and two blending sites in Europe, plus another five mixing and blending sites in the US. And, following the 2019 completion of its new plant in Peshtera, Bulgaria, it has total fermentation capacity of over 10000 m3.
IPO to speed up organic growth
Kiril Domuschiev, CEO of Huvepharma, said the animal health player is now at the next stage of its development:
“The IPO will further accelerate the company’s organic growth and new product developments, and also increase the company’s ability to acquire or license new products or technologies, reduce our leverage, as well as enable us to further increase our production capacity.
“The Netherlands is a leading European country in livestock development, and Amsterdam is the European trading venue with the highest daily turnover in the Eurozone. It was therefore an obvious choice as a listing venue for us, [the city is] rooted in a country with a strong agriculture profile.”
Livestock market remains robust
The Huvepharma group’s core operations focus on the livestock animal segment which, with a market size of around US$19.7bn, represents approximately 60% of the global animal health industry, according to data firm, Vetnosis.
The consultancy forecasts the livestock sector will grow nominally at a CAGR of 5% between 2019 and 2024.
“The fastest growth rates over this period will be in poultry, expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% during the period 2019 to 2024, followed by cattle and sheep at 4.2% and swine at 3.5%.”
Livestock species are expected to grow faster than the companion animal segment, which Vetnosis forecasts to grow at 2.5% from 2019 to 2024.
“The growth [in meat, eggs and dairy] is mainly driven by three factors: an increase in the global population; a larger and growing middle-class in developing countries demanding more high-quality animal proteins; and increased food safety concerns and demand for higher quality standards resulting in increasing demand for better quality meat.”
Although more people are embracing plant-based diets in developed markets, Huvepharma reckons the impact of that trend on mid to long-term demand for animal derived products will be limited.
