Co-Operative Animal Health Ltd (CAHL), the Tullow-based wholesale veterinary business, saw its sales fall by more than 5% in 2019 due to lower sales volumes in Ireland. Recently filed accounts show CAHL recorded sales of €34.4m for 2019, which was down 5.2% on the previous year.

Sales to Irish customers dropped 6% in the year to just under €32.2m, while export sales to the EU and other markets increased by more than 5% in 2019 to €2.3m.

Despite the fall in sales, CAHL saw its operating profits increase more than 60% in the year to just under €175,000. The business has wafer-thin profit margins of just 0.5% with most sales of veterinary medicines going to its two shareholders, Dairygold and Glanbia Ireland.

CAHL was founded in 1972 as a 50:50 joint venture between Dairygold and Glanbia. The company manufactures a range of animal nutrition licks, minerals and boluses at its Nutribio facility in Tivoli, Co Cork. The business employs almost 70 people and had net assets of €5.4m at year-end 2019.