UK-based Benchmark Holdings, which recently snapped up the salmon breeding companies Salmobreed and Stornfiskur, revealed big expansion plans in its latest financial report.
The newly AIM-listed animal health, technical publishing and sustainability science business has just posted a net pre-tax loss of £1.4 million ($2.11m) for its latest financial year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2014.
The loss was due to a 23% increase in research and development (RD) investments, which reached £6.4m during the year, said Benchmark.
Benchmar — which owns the aquaculture health division Fish Vet Group, which produces the Salmosan sealice treatment — had posted a pre-tax profit of £4.9m in the previous year.
Commenting in its annual report, the company said it has set aside over £20m to expand its vaccine manufacturing capabilities at the UK sites in Edinburgh and Braintree. This in response to strong growth seen across vaccines business, it said.
The company expects its growth plans to boost its revenues ten-fold.
“We are committed to investing significant resources to secure the long term trading prospects for the business,” the company said.
“Our pipeline of products currently in development has an estimated revenue potential in excess of £350m. We will continue to invest significantly in this pipeline over the next few years whilst ensuring that the revenue producing divisions are prudently managed so as to achieve their growth-oriented targets.”
Benchmark posted a revenue for the period of £35.4m, a 28% increase over 2013, driven by sales of the group’s animal health products, which rose by 22%.
The majority of this increase arose from the inclusion of Salmosan sea lice treatment’s sales in Chile for a full year, while in 2013 it accounted for seven months.
companiThe company’s results show an operating loss of £1.2m, compared to £5.1m operating profit in 2013. This was attributed to higher operating costs year-on-year, due to increased scale of operations and higher investments.
Acquisitions strategy
Benchmark says its strategy is based on long-term investments, while continuing to evaluate targeted acquisitions as part of its overall business development strategy, the company said.
Following an initial public offering (IPO) on the AIM exchange in December 2013, which raised net proceeds of £25m, “the company made notable progress in deploying those funds through significant investment in expanding manufacturing capacity, securing bolt on acquisitions and new product development,” said Benchmark chairman Alex Hambro.
The largest acquisition in 2014 was that of aquaculture vaccine assets from Zoetis. The company’s acquisition strategy culminated in the dual acquisition of salmon breeding and genetics companies, Salmobreed and Stofnfiskur in December 2014.
The acquisitions of Salmobreed and Stofnfiskur created a fourth business division within the group, Benchmark Breeding Genetics, which is expected to become the second largest supplier of salmon eggs and genetic expertise in the world, the company said.
“We are continuing to evaluate a number of further opportunities,” Hambro said.