The British tend to think of themselves as a nation of dog lovers – and with industry statisticians putting the number of dog owning households at 5.2m, it is hard to argue. By comparison, the country has an even closer affection for cats – or at least 6.1m households do. Then there are the 4.1m fish owners, 1.96m who chose to live with rodents and 1.39m households who prefer birds. It’s a market catered for by nearly 24,000 UK registered vets – and one that is prized by some of the largest pharmaceuticals groups in the world. For Stephen Wildridge, the chief executive of Animalcare Group (LON:ANCR) , the opportunities presented by the companion animal market were enough to trigger a major strategy change at the AIM listed company earlier this year.

Animalcare started life on AIM in January 2008 after livestock specialist Ritchey upgraded from the PLUS market and snapped up Animalcare Ltd in a £14m deal. Since then the group has pursued a two-pronged strategy, with Animalcare working on the vet medicines, supplies and animal identification markets while the Ritchey and Fearing International businesses focused on the agricultural livestock sector. However, for Wildridge and his management team, the disparity between the profits and performance of the two divisions reached a head earlier this year. In the company’s latest results for the 12 months to June 30, the companion animal division delivered 56% of group’s overall £19.2m revenues and 84% of its £3.14m operating profit. Meanwhile, the agricultural division produced 44% of revenues but only 16% of operating profits. It was a situation that led the company to sell off the agricultural business in September for a handsome £3.25m. Left with an impressive pipeline of new products, a focused strategy of picking niche segments and a keen eye for possible acquisitions, Stephen Wildridge spoke to Stockopedia about his ambitions for the group.

Stephen, what is you assessment of Animalcare’s performance during the last year and what triggered the decision to refocus the group’s strategy?

I am highly delighted with the results. The numbers from the companion animal business were excellent and we managed to get the agricultural businesses to a point at the year-end where the results were acceptable. We were aware of issues with the agricultural businesses for some…

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