Marc Prikazsky, CEO of France’s Ceva Santé Animale, has made no secret of the fact that he wants his company to break into the top 5 in animal health by 2020. If the first half of this year is any indication, the company--which placed 8th on Fierce’s recent list of the top 10 animal health companies--is well on its way to meeting that goal.
Ceva announced on July 25 that its sales in the first half of 2016 rose 7% (or 13% at constant exchange rates) to €455 million ($508 million). Sales grew in almost all the regions Ceva serves, with Asia and Europe posting exceptionally strong performance, up 31% and 13% respectively, according to a press release. Only Latin America experienced flat sales growth, the company said, but that was due to a significantly negative impact from foreign exchange rates.
Ceva has been expanding its presence in production animal health in recent years, introducing new vaccines for poultry and swine. Those moves paid off in the first half of the year, with poultry sales up 12% and swine sales growing 11%, the company said.
“The organic growth of the group remains consistent and ahead of our 2020 business plan,” Prikazsky said in the earnings release. “We continue to invest in our people, plants and our product pipeline,” he added, noting that the company has also succeeded at growing via acquisition.
Indeed, Ceva made three acquisitions in the last six months alone. It bought iD Projects, a maker of hatchery equipment and Polchem, an Indian animal health company. And in June, Ceva picked up Biovac Laboratories, a French maker of “autogeneous” or bacterial vaccines. The technology will help Ceva build its expertise in manufacturing custom vaccines to quickly respond to emerging diseases.
Ceva is counting on both emerging and developed markets to help fuel its growth. The company announced earlier this year that it plans to invest €80 million ($89 million) in expanding its presence in the U.S., France, Hungary, China and other countries.
- here’s the earnings release
Special report - Ceva Santé Animale – Top 10 animal health companies
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