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New concepts and new colleagues - a quarter constructing the future
Summary of the period
Third quarter: July 1st - September 30th, 2021
Numbers in parentheses refers to outcomes during the corresponding period of the previous year.
First 9 months: January 1st - September 30th, 2021
*Converted to the number of shares after the share split 5:1
Significant events during the third quarter
Significant events after the third quarter
Words from the CEO
Collaborations within the group create new business– all is set for a strong ending of the year
The third quarter turnover was 221 MSEK which was a 218% increase compared to Q3 2020 and the operational EBITDA profit increased by 154% to 57 MSEK, generating a margin of approximately 26%.Q3 mainly offered a continued strong momentum for us, with the exception being some issues concerning our new acquisition Vetio, who suffered a power outage that halted production as well as delays in the Asian export of ProDen PlaqueOff®. Operational cash flow was strong with 34 MSEK, proving that we can grow without building large customer receivables and balance sheet.
The quarter started off with some disappointments in regard to pandemic restrictions not being phased out as quickly as expected, which resulted in exhibitions in Asia and the US being postponed, converted to digital versions or held with a very low number of participants. Our US sales were not affected significantly by this, but for the Asian markets where large exhibitions were postponed to the end of the year, we and our distributors made the decision to delay deliveries from the third to the fourth quarter, as traditionally large orders are placed at these exhibitions. This is the reason why we do not show organic growth this quarter despite growing on all other markets and the fact that in the UK, Spain, and our Nordic subsidiaries this quarter selling at all-time high. All ProDen PlaqueOff®-markets apart from Asia are increasing and we keep building our brand. A number of new collaboration inquiries have been received which proves that our brand strengthening strategy is paying off, both in terms of increase of sales as well as in the interest from other strong brands that want to team up with ours. For the first 9 months this year we are exceeding 20% in organic growth, and we will deliver at least this on afull year basis in the coming years!
Our operational EBITDA margin was almost 26% which I am satisfied with, considering the delayed Asian orders and the less-than-optimal quarter for Vetio mentioned above. Presenting operational earnings is relevant so that you as shareholders and other interested parties can get a clear picture of the situation of the profitability for the underlying operation when acquisition costs have been added back. Normally Q3 is a bit quiet for Vetio because the demand for dermatology products traditionally faces a slight decrease during winter months. Increased prices of raw materials affected the margins in Q3, but we have adjusted our prices equally, for some customers from Q4 and for all customers from January 1st 2022. Vetio also suffered a period when production was stopped because of covid among key production staff and also due to the plant having to be closed because of the hurricane in August. These temporary drawbacks had an estimated impact of 1 MUSD decrease in sales and a 0.3 MUSD negative effect on margin. However, despite this Vetio delivered solid results, much thanks to a strong September when Vetio managed to finalize a project in our new facility, which was not even expected to be up and running before Q4. The Vetio team really pulled through and I am very impressed by their work and will to deliver.
With a strong ending of September and October starting equally so, it is with confidence I anticipate the upcoming Q4 and next year. Vetio have checked with all major customers and these all indicate double digit increases in 2022 compared to the 2021 volumes. We are perfectly positioned to grow more rapidly than the market thanks to our new production capacity and our strong brands within the group.
In September our CFO, Jenny Graflind, and I finally got to visit Canada and Vetio North where we met up with a number of colleagues from our American subsidiaries. After almost two years of meetings only on Teams and Zoom, meeting up in person was long overdue and I feel that the value of live meetings really shall not be underestimated! After this gathering I am even more convinced that Vetio is an amazing asset that will be a key component for our fast and profitable continued growth.
This year’s mentioned delivery issues from suppliers, which we share with other companies within our field as well as outside, are about to be solved for us. In Q3 we had approximately 10 MSEK in back orders which had to be transferred to Q4, but by October we have already been able to ship out a large part of them indicating that we will only have very few delivery delays left to sort out. We have been able to do this by bringing production inhouse, mainly in the US and some to our facility in Ireland. In Q4 our large new facility in Florida will be fully operational and from Q1 2022 the production of our ”soft-chews” will start full speed, producing for both internal and external costumers. The demand for soft-chew products is very strong and we are preparing to launch several different new products, based on this distribution form, within several of our brands in 2022.
Nutravet, based in the UK, is growing rapidly, and have launched a number of new products during the year and our in-group cooperation has been a key factor for export to Europe. Brexit has created some challenges in regard to sales between the UK and the EU but thanks to our Irish logistic and warehouse facility we are able to avoid much of the red tape otherwise associated with each separate sale.
Online sales continue strongly, and both in Europe and the US we are launching on new platforms and extending our presence, both brand- and product wise. Soon we will be on all European Amazon platforms and with various marketing campaigns our sales grow month by month. The launch of Pet MD® in Europe is exceeding expectations, proving that we have models and knowledge to build sales quickly and effectively.
We started the fourth quarter with our smallest acquisition this year, FAV – a logistic company focusing on ”drop-shipment” to consumers from a number of the large online platforms. Tim Ackerman, who runs FAV, has for many years developed a software solution and work process that enables quick access to listings, which gives us a great advantage by quickly being able to introduce new products and brands. The licensing collaboration with Dr. Pol, is a great example of how FAV adds to and strengthens our group dynamics. A project like this is something we would not have dared to venture into one year ago. But now with the joint forces of Stratford, Pet MD Brands and FAV coming together in a strong set-up we confidently manage this complex project including product choices, strategy, implementation as well as contacts with licensing partners, online listings, influencers/marketing experts etc. We have soft-launched the project and I look forward to presenting the results in the upcoming reports. Dr. Pol is a fantastic person who alongside his family and team are extremely dedicated to making this project a great success!
This quarter has also become the start of a more organized ESG set-up for Swedencare. We have been working with several aspects previously but not focused on measuring and documenting all our initiatives. Together with Position Green we have now started a project which includes all subsidiaries continually measuring important progress for the group. We also have started to present our different initiatives, large and small, on our website (www.swedencare.com/sustainability) where we welcome you to follow our development.
As the leader of a global organization, it is extremely satisfying to plan our upcoming Swedencare Global Meeting to be held in December. We will gather all our subsidiary managers, marketing managers and the board of directors in Florida, where several of our group companies have their headquarters, to discuss strategies and business opportunities – the possibilities are fantastic and so are my colleagues, together we are building the leading global healthcare company for pets – and I can’t wait to tell you more about this in the future!
Håkan Lagerberg, CEO
Malmö October 28th, 2021
The complete interim report is attached to this press release and is available at www.swedencare.com
Swedencare invites shareholders and analysts to a presentation of the Q3 report where CEO Håkan Lagerberg and CFO Jenny Graflind will comment on the report. The presentation will be held today at 11:00-11:30 CET and can be followed via live webinar.
Please use this link to join the webinar:
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