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Almost £310m disappeared from the value of two veterinary companies after the competition watchdog opened a formal investigation into the industry.
Investors were spooked, with £262 million wiped from CVS’s value, sending the shares down 25 per cent, or 365 pence, to 1,092 pence, and Pets at Home plummeting by £46 million or 3.6 per cent, or 9.8p, to 265.4p. That reduced the value of the companies by a total of £308 million.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had identified “multiple concerns” following a six-month review with more than 56,000 responses from the public and sector.
This included fears that pet owners would be overcharged for medications or prescriptions.
With the CMA launching a formal investigation, its boss Sarah Cardell said the “unprecedented” response “demonstrates the strength of feeling on this issue is high and why we were right to investigate this”.
Veterinary investigation: The Competition and Markets Authority said it had identified “multiple concerns” following a six-month review of the veterinary industry
The CMA began reviewing the veterinary market in September last year over concerns about a lack of disclosure and weak competition.
The watchdog said most clinics do not display prices on their websites. Pets at Home, which has almost 450 veterinary practices, said it was “incredibly disappointed” by the regulator’s findings.
The company added that it has worked closely with the CMA and added that its veterinary practices are run independently and set their own prices.
A spokesperson said: “Price, product choice and service delivery are determined locally by them to provide the best general practice care to their patients in their community.”
CVS, the largest veterinary group listed in London, said it will continue to work “proactively” with the CMA.
Stock Monitoring – Symptomer
Synthomer pointed to signs of recovery after a torrid year.
The London-based chemicals group said its operations in 2024 have been “cautiously encouraging” as customers began buying products again.
Synthomer endured a difficult 2023, with revenues falling 15 per cent to £1.97bn and losses rising from £34.2m to £106.8m.
The shares rose 35.8 per cent, or 51.4 pence, to 195 pence.
But the stock is well below its August 2021 high of 4,154p.
In the broader market, the FTSE 100 rose 1 per cent, or 78.58 points, to 7,747.81 and the FTSE 250 added 0.2 per cent, or 35.12 points, to 19,565.21.
London’s main index hit its highest level since May last year after Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain posted profits following reports that the gambling giant is considering selling its online poker business.
The group is working with advisers Oakvale Capital to offload its PartyPoker unit, which could be worth around £150m, Sky News reported. The shares rose 3.8 per cent, or 27.6 pence, to 762.4 pence.
Companies often issue more shares when they try to raise more money to support the business.
Renalytix, a developer of kidney disease tests, raised £9 million ($12 million) by issuing almost 47 million new shares at 20 pence each to investors in the UK and US.
This represented a 50 percent discount to the previous day’s closing price.
The company expects the fresh funds to last until the final quarter of this year.
And commercial property investor Regional REIT told shareholders it needed to shore up its finances and could issue new shares “at a significant discount” to the current share price.
Renalytix shares fell 20 per cent, or 8p, to 32p and the regional REIT slumped 30 per cent, or 6.05p, to 14.1p.
Footwear group Shoe Zone suffered a slow end to its fall and winter season. The shares lost 17.1 per cent, or 48 pence, to 232 pence.