Nearly £310million was wiped off the value of two vet firms after the competition watchdog opened a formal investigation into the industry.
Investors were spooked, with £262million wiped off the value of CVS, sending shares down 25 per cent, or 365p, to 1092p, and Pets at Home plunged by £46million or 3.6 per cent, or 9.8p, to 265.4p. That reduced the value of the businesses by a combined £308million.
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 the sector.
This included fears that pet owners are being over-charged for medicines or prescriptions.
With the CMA starting a formal probe, its boss Sarah Cardell said the ‘unprecedented’ response ‘shows the strength of feeling on this issue is high and why we were right to look into this’.
Vet probe: The Competition and Markets Authority said it had identified ‘multiple concerns’ following a six-month review into the veterinary industry
The CMA started reviewing the vet market in September last year due to concerns about the lack of disclosure and weak competition.
The watchdog said most practices fail to display prices on their websites. Pets at Home, which has nearly 450 vet practices, said it was ‘incredibly disappointed’ by the regulator’s findings.
The company added that it has worked closely with the CMA, adding that its vet practises are run independently and set their own prices.
A spokesman said: ‘Pricing, product choices and service provisions are all determined locally by them to provide the best general practice care for their patients in their community.’
CVS – the biggest London-listed vet group – said it will continue to work ‘proactively’ with the CMA.
Stock Watch – Synthomer
Synthomer pointed towards signs of recovery following a torrid year.
The London-based chemicals group said its trading in 2024 has been ‘cautiously encouraging’ as customers started buying products again.
Synthomer endured a rough 2023 with revenues falling 15 per cent to £1.97billion and losses widening from £34.2million to £106.8million.
Shares jumped 35.8 per cent, or 51.4p, to 195p.
But the stock is way below its peak of 4154p in August 2021.
On the wider market, the FTSE 100 rose 1 per cent, or 78.58 points, to 7747.81 and the FTSE 250 added 0.2 per cent, or 35.12 points, to 19565.21.
London’s top index hit its highest level since May last year after Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain made gains following reports the gambling giant is considering selling its online poker business.
The group is working with advisers from Oakvale Capital to offload its PartyPoker unit that could be worth around £150million, Sky News reported. Shares increased 3.8 per cent, or 27.6p, to 762.4p.
Firms often issue more stock when trying to raise more money to support the business.
Renalytix, a kidney disease testing developer, brought in £9million ($12million) by issuing nearly 47m new shares at 20p each to investors in the UK and US.
That represented a 50 per cent discount on the previous day’s closing price.
The company expects the fresh funds to last through to 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 material discount’ to the current stock price.
Shares in Renalytix tumbled 20 per cent, or 8p, to 32p and Regional REIT plunged 30 per cent, or 6.05p, to 14.1p.
Footwear group Shoe Zone suffered a sluggish end to its autumn and winter season. Shares lost 17.1 per cent, or 48p, to 232p.
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