Greencross Limited (ASX:GXL) on Tuesday reported first half underlying net profit after tax of $24.4 million, an 11% increase over the same period a year earlier.
Greencross Limited posted revenue of $433.3 million in the period. This was 9% higher than the same period last year. The company announced a fully franked interim dividend of 10 cents per share, an increase of 5%.
Greencross Limited is an integrated pet care company, which is engaged in providing veterinary services. The Company operates physical and online pet stores, and provides a range of non-medical companion animal services.
Commenting on the results, Greencross’ Chief Executive Officer, Martin Nicholas said “In H1 FY2018, Greencross has achieved 9% revenue growth and 4.5% LFL sales growth, driven by strong performances from our retail business (especially online), in-store GP clinics and specialist and emergency hospitals.
Our Australian Retail division achieved 6% revenue growth and LFL sales growth of 4.0%. Excellent trading over the Christmas period, higher premium food sales and growth in online were all key contributors to a good retail result.
Our Veterinary division achieved 14% revenue growth and delivered 5.9% LFL sales growth, with in-store GP clinics and specialist and emergency hospitals being the key growth drivers.
I am confident that our one stop shop approach to petcare and the scope, and quality, of our full service veterinary offering are key points of differentiation from our competitors which are highly attractive to pet consumers and will enable us to further grow our market share in Australia and New Zealand.”
Outlook
The company said business continues to perform in line with plan in FY2018 YTD and the Company remains comfortable with market consensus for the full year result.
The Greencross Limited share price has fallen 2.23% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P/ASX 200 Index has fallen roughly 2.02%. The Greencross share price trades at $6.15, a fall of 6.39% in the last 12 months.
