The first-half 2026 results of French animal-health companies Vetoquinol and Virbac provide an important snapshot of the changing economics of the global veterinary-health market.

Vetoquinol returned to growth during H1 FY2026, reporting sales of €259.3 million, up 3.4% at constant exchange rates and 0.7% on a reported basis. EBIT before amortization of acquired assets reached €44.8 million, up 7.2%, lifting the corresponding margin to 17.3% from 16.2% a year earlier. Net income increased almost 22% to €30.5 million, while net cash rose to €222.8 million.

Virbac delivered a faster top-line trajectory, with H1 revenue of €768 million, representing 7.4% organic growth at constant exchange rates and scope and 4.0% growth at actual exchange rates. Companion-animal revenue increased 10.0%, farm-animal revenue grew 6.7%, and adjusted EBIT reached €144.2 million, producing an 18.8% margin, up 0.5 percentage points from H1 2025.

The two sets of results illustrate two complementary strategies within European animal health: Vetoquinol is emphasising Essential Products, profitability, US growth and balance-sheet strength, while Virbac is expanding through specialty platforms, companion-animal products, acquisitions and industrial investment.

Vetoquinol: H1 Sales Reach €259.3 Million as Profitability Outpaces Revenue Growth

Vetoquinol’s H1 FY2026 performance marked a return to growth following a challenging 2025 environment characterised by foreign-exchange pressure and the company’s programme to simplify complementary product lines.

H1 sales reached €259.3 million, compared with €257.6 million in H1 2025.

Vetoquinol reported that the H1 result benefited from a stronger product mix, particularly the continuing expansion of its Essential Products portfolio, together with price increases of more than 2.5%.

At the same time, higher external expenses associated primarily with the company’s industrial plan and R&D activities partly offset those benefits.

Profitability improved faster than revenue

The most important financial feature of Vetoquinol’s H1 performance is the expansion in operating profitability.

EBIT before amortisation of acquired assets increased from €41.8 million to €44.8 million, a 7.2% increase, despite reported revenue rising by only 0.7%.

The corresponding margin increased from 16.2% to 17.3%.

This represents approximately 1.1 percentage points of margin expansion.

Reported EBIT rose even faster, increasing 12.5% to €39.2 million, while net income attributable to the Group increased 21.8% to €30.5 million.

This indicates that the improvement was not restricted to the company’s preferred operating-profit measure.

Essential Products Become an Increasingly Important Revenue Engine

Vetoquinol’s Essential Products portfolio generated €169 million during H1. At approximately 65% of total H1 sales, Essential Products have become the central component of the company’s commercial strategy.

The portfolio grew 3.7% at constant exchange rates, ahead of total reported revenue growth.

This is strategically important because Vetoquinol has been progressively simplifying its complementary-product portfolio while increasing its emphasis on products considered strategically important to its long-term growth.

The company has previously described Essential Products as a central pillar of its strategy. The H1 numbers indicate that this portfolio transition is continuing to influence both revenue mix and gross-margin performance.

United States Emerges as Vetoquinol’s Strongest Regional Growth Engine

The United States was the strongest major geographic growth market for Vetoquinol in H1.

The US generated 13.1% growth in US dollars at constant exchange rates, substantially above the group’s overall constant-currency growth. The US is Vetoquinol’s largest individual market, making this performance particularly important to the company’s medium-term growth trajectory.

Europe also grew at 3.0% at constant exchange rates, while the Americas excluding the US and Asia-Pacific/Rest of World were weaker. The regional mix therefore remains somewhat uneven, with the US and Europe providing the principal growth contribution.

Companion Animals Account for Nearly Three-Quarters of Vetoquinol Sales

Companion-animal products generated €188 million, equivalent to approximately 72.5% of total H1 revenue. The segment grew 4.1% at constant exchange rates.

Farm-animal products generated approximately €71 million, representing about 27.4% of revenue, with constant-currency growth of 1.9%.

This confirms that Vetoquinol remains predominantly a companion-animal company by revenue, although its farm-animal portfolio remains strategically important.

The mix is particularly relevant in the context of the broader global animal-health market, where companion animals are benefiting from structural drivers including:

• Increasing pet ownership;

• Higher veterinary expenditure;

• Longer pet lifespans;

• Greater awareness of chronic disease;

• Expansion of preventive healthcare;

• Growth of specialty therapeutics and diagnostics.

Vetoquinol’s Balance Sheet Provides Strategic Flexibility

Another notable feature of the H1 results is the company’s cash position. Vetoquinol reported €222.8 million of net cash at June 30, 2026, compared with €205.8 million at December 31, 2025.

That represents an increase of approximately €17 million during the first half, despite dividends, working-capital movements, capital expenditure and share buybacks. Cash-flow generation reached €58.6 million, compared with €50.7 million in H1 2025.

The company ended June with approximately €609 million of shareholders’ equity. This balance-sheet position gives Vetoquinol capacity to continue investing in organic growth while retaining financial flexibility for potential external-growth opportunities.

Virbac: H1 Revenue Reaches €768 Million With 7.4% Organic Growth

Virbac delivered a considerably faster revenue trajectory during H1 FY2026. The company reported consolidated revenue of €768 million, compared with approximately €738 million in H1 2025.

At constant exchange rates and scope, revenue increased 7.4%. At actual exchange rates, growth was 4.0%, reflecting currency headwinds.

Virbac’s performance was broad-based, with both companion- and farm-animal businesses contributing.

Companion Animals Lead Virbac’s Growth

The strongest segment was companion animals. Companion-animal revenue growth: +10.0%. Farm-animal revenue growth: +6.7%

The performance was supported by Virbac’s Supercharge platforms, which grew approximately 12% at constant exchange rates and scope excluding Thyronorm. The company’s strongest platforms included:

• Mobility

• Dental

• Ear care

• Endocrinology

• Ruminant products.

Virbac reported a volume/mix contribution of approximately +5.4%, supplemented by approximately +2% price growth.

This is important because it shows that the 7.4% organic growth rate was not primarily dependent on price increases. Volume and product mix represented the larger contributor.

Thyronorm Adds to Virbac’s Endocrinology Platform

The integration of Thyronorm, acquired in December 2025, strengthened Virbac’s endocrinology portfolio. The company estimates that the acquisition contributed approximately 3.7 percentage points to Supercharge platform growth during H1.

Virbac includes the acquisition within its 2026 constant-scope reporting because of its relatively low materiality. For the full year, the company expects Thyronorm to contribute approximately:

• 1 percentage point to total revenue growth;

• Approximately 0.5 percentage point to adjusted EBIT.

This is consistent with Virbac’s broader strategy of acquiring or partnering around high-margin, complementary specialty assets.

Virbac’s Geographic Growth Is Broad-Based

Virbac reported growth across all three principal geographic regions.

Europe – Europe grew 6.5%, with companion-animal revenue increasing particularly strongly.

Petfood and endocrinology were important contributors, alongside the broader Supercharge portfolio. Germany benefited from cattle vaccines, while the UK was supported by endocrinology.

Virbac also highlighted Turkey as an important contributor, accounting for approximately one-third of total company growth.

North America – North America grew 10.1%. Growth was driven principally by:

• Mobility

• Dental

• Ear care

• Endocrinology/Thyronorm.

Virbac noted some offset from temporary regulatory issues affecting its toll-manufacturing business and supply constraints in farm animal. The company stated that, excluding distributor inventory movements and toll-manufacturing activity, underlying organic growth remained approximately 10%.

International – The International region grew 7.5%.

A particularly important point for Indian readers is that IMEA — India, Middle East and Africa — delivered double-digit growth. Latin America also delivered double-digit expansion.

The growth was broad-based across both companion and farm animals, with petfood, dental products and vaccines contributing in companion animals and cattle nutritionals and vaccines supporting the farm-animal business.

Virbac Expands Industrial Capacity

Virbac is simultaneously investing heavily in its manufacturing and supply infrastructure. Key industrial projects include:

• A new vaccines production plant;

• A new petfood facility;

• A new logistics centre;

• Transfer of Suprelorin manufacturing to France.

H1 capital expenditure reached €57.3 million. Virbac expects full-year capital expenditure of approximately €125 million.

The investment programme is important because the company is attempting to expand capacity while maintaining gross-margin improvement.

Margin Expansion Despite Higher Operating Expenses

Virbac’s adjusted EBIT increased from €135.0 million to €144.2 million, an increase of approximately 6.8%. The adjusted EBIT margin rose from 18.3% to 18.8%. The company attributed the improvement principally to:

• Approximately 1 percentage point improvement in gross margin;

• Favourable product mix;

• Volume growth;

• Pricing;

• Lower R&D expense as a percentage of revenue.

These benefits were partly offset by higher other operating expenses, including expenditure phasing and certain one-off costs. The company expects some of these expense effects to normalise over the full year.

Virbac’s Net Debt Increases — But Primarily From Working Capital and Investment

Virbac ended June with net debt of approximately €195.9 million, compared with €172.8 million at December 2025. The increase was primarily attributed to normal seasonal working-capital requirements.

The company reported approximately €79.8 million of working-capital impact. This is an important distinction: the increase in net debt does not appear to reflect a deterioration in operating performance.

Virbac also invested €57.3 million in CapEx during H1, predominantly in its industrial transformation programme.

New Specialty Assets Could Expand Virbac’s Future Growth

Virbac’s strategy is not limited to organic development. During H1, the company signed two strategic commercial agreements with pathways toward future asset/company acquisition.

Porus-One

Virbac signed a distribution agreement for Porus-One, a carbon-based uremic-toxin binder designed to complement its chronic kidney disease portfolio in cats.

Virbac plans commercialisation in 2027 and has a purchase option for the parent company.

Vetcare

Virbac also entered an agreement involving Vetcare and a finrozole-based product for managing heat in female dogs. The transaction provides a pathway toward acquisition of the marketing authorisation, with a planned 2027 launch.

The two transactions illustrate Virbac’s strategy of using commercial agreements as potential pathways to acquire complementary specialty assets.

Vetoquinol vs Virbac: H1 FY2026 at a Glance

The operating-profit measures are not identical accounting measures and should not be treated as directly equivalent without reference to each company’s definitions.

Two Different Growth Models Within European Animal Health

The H1 results reveal an important difference in strategic positioning. Vetoquinol: portfolio simplification + Essential Products + balance-sheet strength

Vetoquinol’s model is increasingly centred on: Essential Products → improved mix → margin expansion → cash generation → selective growth

Its H1 numbers show that profitability is currently increasing faster than revenue. The 17.3% EBIT-before-AAA margin, combined with €222.8 million of net cash, provides substantial financial flexibility.

The strongest geographic signal is the 13.1% constant-currency growth in the US, while the strongest portfolio signal is continued expansion of Essential Products.

Virbac: specialty platforms + companion animals + geographic expansion

Virbac’s strategy is more expansion-oriented. Its H1 performance is being driven by: Companion animals + Supercharge platforms + specialty assets + geographic expansion + industrial investment

The 10% companion-animal growth rate and approximately 12% growth of Supercharge platforms demonstrate the commercial momentum behind this strategy. The company’s double-digit growth in North America, IMEA and Latin America also provides greater geographic diversification.