Ceva Santé Animale (Ceva) achieved growth of 20% in 2017 and broke the billion euro barrier for the first time with sales of €1.1 billion.

Performance was strong across all geographical regions. The global sales are split as follows Europe - 34%, Africa-Middle East-Eastern Europe-Turkey - 19%, North America-Pacific – 16%, Latin America – 15% and Asia – 13%.

In terms of product portfolios, the Swine business recorded the biggest increase (up 66%, representing 16% of sales) due mainly to the acquisition of 4 ex-Merial vaccines. Ruminants sales were up 40%, (20% of turnover) driven by the acquisition of Brazilian firms Hertape and Inova. Companion Animals sales grew 12%, (29% of turnover), with Poultry up 8%, (35% of turnover).

Ceva Chairman and CEO, Dr. Marc Prikazsky delighted with these latest results said: “Our strong growth can be explained largely through our most recent acquisitions, Hertape and Inova in Brazil, but equally the purchase of a number of ex-Merial products and the acquisitions of Ebvac, China, Polchem in India and Biovac, France.

"However, our organic growth was also a driver, achieving an historic 9% increase (at constant scope and exchange rates). This success is due to the hard work of all our teams, in particular those in Libourne, for the smooth integration of these new companies, as well as the R&D, industrial and logistics teams for the development of such innovative new products as Feliscratch by Feliway®, Zeleris® and Smartvac®.”

Dr. Prikazsky adds: “In these times of rapid global change, we need to make the most of our agility to quickly integrate, from today, the new orientations of research in areas such as artificial intelligence, connected agriculture, robotisation, digitalisation, big data, etc. The challenge for the future will be how to integrate these new technologies into our business model. This is a challenge for the agricultural community as a whole, both in France and around the world. In all these areas, once again, Ceva wants to become a first-line reference.”

Along the lines of its investment last year in Applifarm, a Big Data platform for the ruminants sector, Ceva is looking to develop new services, particularly in hatcheries around its vector-vaccine and in-ovo vaccination equipment developed by its French subsidiary, Ecat-iD.

2018 will also see the realisation of three major projects in France under the “Factory of the Future” banner:

• Construction in Laval, Mayenne of a global centre of expertise in companion animals. Between 2014 and 2020 Ceva will have invested €25 million in the Ceva Sogeval Campus (pictured above), with €7.5 million of that going towards the construction of an ultramodern 3600m² campus – including a 1000m² laboratory and Quality Control building (due to open in February 2018).
• Construction of a 2000m² building in Loudéac, Brittany. Ceva has invested €6.8 million in order to integrate a range of dermatological products for Companion animals. In addition to the Feliway® and Adaptil® ranges it will produce the Douxo® range for the European market, with the aim of becoming the world leader in topical dermatology products by 2020 (due to open in May 2018).
• Construction of a 2600m² industrial building in Libourne, Gironde. With an investment of €8.5 million the Group hopes to increase storage capacity for vaccines and, at the same time, improve its logistics (due to open in November 2018). This year, Ceva will also initiate a project to examine how to reorganise the entire Libourne site, which includes its head office, with the aim of improving the work environment and encouraging exchange between different services.

“To maintain its constant rhythm of growth, it is imperative that Ceva continues to invest in the future, in innovation, in new sectors like biotechnology and in R&D – particularly in relation to swine and poultry biology,” explains Marc Prikazsky.