Vetoquinol's revenue for the first quarter of 2009 reached EUR57.1 million, an increase of 4.4 percent over the first quarter of 2008.

After a disappointing fourth quarter of 2008 in which revenue fell by 6.1 percent, reflecting the sudden downturn that affected the entire animal health sector, the first quarter of 2009 showed resilience in sales and a marked improvement in trends, despite very unfavourable exchange rates.

The strengthening of the US dollar was not sufficient to compensate for the sharp fall in the Polish Zloty and the Pound Sterling and the drop in the Canadian dollar. At constant exchange rates, the sales of the group increased by 7.7 percent.

Business activity benefitted from the acquisitions made in 2008 in Italy and Scandinavia, which contributed 9.5 percent to the growth.

When both exchange rates and the scope of business are held constant, sales fell by 1.8 percent, with most of that decline occurring in North America (-14.9 percent). Sales in Eastern Europe increased 16 percent, reflecting strong performance in Poland.

Sales in the rest of Europe rose by 0.5 percent, in a market where the diseases typical of this time of the year were less pronounced than usual, and breeders concentrated their financial efforts on vaccinations against catarrhal fever, particularly in France.

Vétoquinol is a family-owned, independent animal health company, with key activities in research & development, manufacturing, and marketing and sales of medicines and nutraceuticals. Vétoquinol trades throughout Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East and Pacific Asia, with direct representation in 22 countries and a distribution network in over 80 countries.