LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Veterinary services company CVS updated the market on its trading on Thursday, reporting that the positive start to its new financial year had continued into September and October.

The AIM-traded firm, which was holding its annual general meeting, said sales grew by 6.3% in the four months ended 31 October; while like-for-like sales rose 5.1%, despite the postponement of the annual July price review.

Its EBITDA margin for the four months improved to 18.7%, or 15.4% on a pre-IFRS 16 basis, up from 18.2% and 14.7% year-on-year, respectively.

CVS said that positive trading performance, coupled with continued strong cash generation, had led to a further reduction in net debt to £40.9m, with leverage reducing to less than 1x as at 31 October.

A total of three acquisitions had been completed thus far in the current financial year, the board noted, all in accordance with its "strict" investment criteria.

All CVS practices remained open in the current lockdown in England, offering the majority of services to its clients.

"The veterinary services market continues to benefit from favourable consumer trends, with increasing pet ownership," the CVS board said in its statement.

"Alongside our excellent clinical standards and preventative care offerings, and the breadth of our integrated model, this is providing a number of resilient revenue streams despite the continued macro uncertainty.

"The board is pleased with the group's performance across all operations, with the positive start to the new financial year continuing into September and October."

At 1250 GMT, shares in CVS Group were up 1.92% at 1,382p.

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