Dechra hits back after share slide

DECHRA Pharmaceuticals, which supplies animal medicines to vets, has hit out at the Competition Commission after it launched an inquiry into the industry. The move sparked a sudden fall in Dechra shares.

The commission announced in April that it was launching an inquiry into the supply of prescription medicines to vets. In its statement to the stock market, it pointed out that National Veterinary Services, a division of Dechra, had a 'scale monopoly'.

In the following two weeks, shares in Dechra fell from 161p to 136p, the lowest point since it floated late in 2000. Ian Page, Dechra's chief executive, said: 'I strongly believe that as a result of the commission's irresponsible statement, it caused a severe fall in the value of a public company.' The commission defines a scale monopoly as a market share of at least 25%. But it said there was no evidence that Dechra's market share was against the public interest. The commission said: 'We weren't picking them out for anti-competitive practices, we were just stating a fact.'

But Page believes this technicality would have been overlooked by the market, which was likely to react strongly to a word like monopoly associated with a single named company.

Dechra made its submissions to the inquiry last week. It is thought Dechra's lawyers have raised the way the statement was worded with the commission. Page said that he was confident Dechra would be cleared of operating a monopoly that worked against the public interest. Its shares are now 139 1/2p.