ASX Health Stocks: Rural vet stock Apiam jumps 17pc on huge first half

Apiam surged as high as +27pc this morning
Cleanspace had a strong first half
AVITA Medical’s Q4 revenue also climbed higher

Apiam Health jumps much higher after strong H1

Rural veterinary business, Apiam Animal Health (ASX:AHX), jumped as high as +27% this morning (before retreating to +17%) after reporting strong H1 results.

For the first half, Apiam recorded resilient revenue growth, accompanied by a strong uplift in earnings.

Revenue growth was +11.4% to $104.4m vs pcp, and underlying EBITA growth was +32.7% to $9.2m vs pcp.

The company saw growth across each of its veterinary segments, supported by its recent acquisitions (two acquisitions settled in the first quarter of FY24).

During the half, initiatives were undertaken to realise greater cost savings. A redundancy and restructuring program was completed in June 2023, and this is forecast to save $2.6 million in FY24.

Apiam has also transitioned to a new “vet-supported clinic management model.” This model was designed to foster increasingly agile clinic decision making, with the goal of improving margins and organic growth performance over time.

The Board has reinstated its dividend program, and declared an interim dividend of 1.0 cent per share.

In terms of outlook, Apiam says the primary focus for FY24 is to extract further earnings and cash flows from the existing clinic portfolio, and growing its organic revenue.

CleanSpace says it will grown in FY24 and beyond

CleanSpace (ASX:CSX), the company that manufactures respiratory protection solutions for industrial and healthcare markets, also reported a good first half.

H1 revenue was $7.3m, a growth of 27% vs pcp. H1 Operating EBITDA was a loss of -$2.5m, which was $3.8m better than the pcp.

Europe contributed 67% of total revenue, and the company says two new sales leaders recently hired in UK and Germany are expected to support ongoing strong growth.

For guidance, CleanSpace said it is well positioned to continue sales growth of 30% in H2 FY24 and beyond, in its seven focus markets.

The US business is expected to operate at breakeven in H2 whilst a growth strategic review is completed.