Ebos Group lifted first-half net profit by 9.7% as strong growth in its pharmacy arms underpinned gains across its dominant healthcare division.

Net profit rose to A$101.9 million in the six months ended Dec 31 from A$94.3m a year earlier on a 12.8% increase in revenue to A$5.3 billion, the company said. 

Its underlying profit, which strips out one-off merger and acquisition costs, rose 15.8% to A$109.3m, stepping up the 10% growth Ebos experienced in the September quarter.

Chief executive John Cullity said he was pleased to report another “record result” for Ebos, with growth across both healthcare and animal care divisions.

“Both segments continued their strong growth trajectory, reinforcing the value of our diverse portfolio of businesses and the successful execution of our strategy of pursuing both organic and inorganic growth,” he said.

Ebos made three bolt-on acquisitions in the half and is about to go through another step-change with a A$1.17b acquisition of LifeHealthcare medical products distributor. It expects LifeHealthcare will add between A$110m and A$114m to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) this calendar year.

The firm’s first-half ebitda rose 12.8% to A$207.7m, beating Jarden analysts’ expectations of A$180m.

Ebos’s healthcare segment lifted earnings before interest and tax (ebit) 17% to A$150.7m on a 12.9% increase in revenue to A$5b. It said there was strong growth in its community pharmacy division, which grabbed market share and benefitted from customer growth.

The smaller animal care segment reported a 14.9% gain in ebit to A$35.3m on sales of A$274m, up 12.4%, with sales growth across its Black Hawk, Vitapet and Lyppard brands.

The company caused a stir in the way it raised money to help pay for the LifeHealthcare purchase, with the bulk of new funds coming in a placement to institutional investors. Its existing shareholders sought almost four times as much as what was available in the smaller share purchase plan.

The board declared an interim dividend of 47 NZ cents per share, up from 42.5c a year earlier, to be paid on March 18, with a record date of March 4.

The shares closed at $38.01 yesterday, having gained 30.3% over the past 12 months.

The company attracted attention earlier this month after Nick Dowling resigned from the board effective immediately after he sold NZ$48,278 of stock without clearance during a restricted period.