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Zoetis Inc. (ZTS)

Q4 2017 Earnings Call· Thu, Feb 15, 2018

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast for Zoetis. Hosting the call today is Steve Frank, Vice President of Investor Relations for Zoetis. The presentation materials and additional financial tables are currently posted on the Investor Relations section of zoetis.com. The presentation slides can be managed by you, the viewer, and will not be forwarded automatically. In addition, a replay of this call will be available approximately 2 hours after the conclusion of this call via dial-in or on the Investor Relations section of zoetis.com. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Steve Frank. Steve, you may begin.

Steven Frank

Analyst

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to the Zoetis Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017 Earnings Call. I am joined today by Juan Ramón Alaix, our Chief Executive Officer; and Glenn David, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'll remind you that the slides presented on this call are available on the Investor Relations section of our website and that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements and that actual results could differ materially from those projections. For a list and description of certain factors that could cause results to differ, I refer you to the forward-looking statement in today's press release and our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and our reports on Form 10-Q. Our remarks today will also include references to certain financial measures, which were not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures is included in the financial tables that accompany our earnings press release and in the company's 8-K filing dated today, February 15, 2018. We also cite operational results which exclude the impact of foreign exchange. With that, I will turn the call over to Juan Ramón. Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Steve. Good morning, everyone. Two weeks ago, we celebrated our fifth anniversary as a public company. And since our IPO in 2015, we have been able to improve the ways we innovate and serve our customers, grow as a profitable stand-alone business and build a track record of delivering results. Over the last 5 years, we have maintained a high level of R&D productivity and developed new and enhanced products that address the more relevant needs of our customers. New innovative products like Apoquel,…

Glenn David

Analyst · Cantor

Thank you, Juan Ramón, and good morning, everyone. Before I get into the details on our fourth quarter performance and guidance for 2018, I will provide a few comments on the results for full year 2017. This year, we delivered operational revenue growth above the market, grew adjusted net income faster than revenue and almost doubled our operating cash flow. Reported revenue for full year 2017 was $5.3 billion with operational revenue growth of 8%. Of this 8%, 3.5% came from our dermatology portfolio, 3.5% came from Simparica and other new products and the remainder of growth came from price and volume. Our product rationalization initiative had an unfavorable impact of 1% on volume for the year. Adjusted net income for full year 2017 was $1.2 billion and grew 21% operationally. Adjusted net income continues to grow faster than revenue driven by the continued impact of our operational efficiency initiative and a lower adjusted effective tax rate. Our performance this year, again, reaffirms our ability to execute on the financial targets that we said in May of 2015 when we provided long-term guidance through to 2017. With the results that we are reporting today, both our top and bottom line in 2017, beat the goal outlined nearly 3 years ago. For the full year, we've performed well across all the species and key markets where we compete. The diversity and durability of our existing portfolio, our market-leading commercial and manufacturing capabilities and the innovations we bring to the marketplace have allowed us to outpace the animal health industry market growth for the last 5 years. Our income growth and our increased discipline on the balance sheet have enabled us to almost double our operating cash flow in 2017. This was the result of lower cash outlays for termination benefits and…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] We'll take our first question from Louise Chen with Cantor.

Louise Chen

Analyst · Cantor

My question is just on R&D. We always get a lot of questions on this since you don't disclose a lot of detail. I'm just wondering, where are your greatest unmet needs in animal health? How are you addressing these? And will we hear more about these products in 2018? And also can you provide any measures by which you can measure your R&D productivity? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Louise, for the question. We still see unmet needs in our animal health industry. One of the unmet needs there is related to pain in dogs and cats and bring some of them in the solutions for the current treatments. And this is why we are focused on a number of [ current treatments ] that we'll be providing alternative to the current treatments for dogs and cats. We also see opportunities of combination of oral parasiticide for internal and external parasiticides. And definitely, we see the opportunity of enhancing productivity in livestock with the new technologies that will replace existing ones. So there are areas that definitely we have internal problems. And we mentioned many times, our competitors because they are part of pharma companies, we are not disclosing any details. For us, providing this information will create a negative impact in our ability to compete successfully in the future. In terms of how we measure productivity, I like Glenn that will provide some details.

Glenn David

Analyst · Cantor

So in terms of measuring the productivity for R&D, a, as we prioritize the projects across the portfolio, we use [ EMPV ] and EROI to make sure that we're appropriately prioritizing across the portfolio. We'll also look retrospectively from a return on invested capital perspective to see the return that we get from our investments. And based on the productivity we've had over the last number of years, we've been very pleased with our return on our R&D spend.

Operator

Operator

And we'll go to -- next question to Kevin Ellich with Craig-Hallum.

Kevin Ellich

Analyst

So very, very strong results this quarter, guys. And it's great to see the rapid growth in companion animal as well, the recovery at livestock that you expect. Glenn, you made a comment about more balanced growth between livestock and companion animal in 2018 and even moderating growth in dermatology. Can you just give us a little bit more detail behind what you expect in companion animal? Should we be thinking about 10% companion animal growth versus 8% livestock? Or any help on that front?

Glenn David

Analyst · Cantor

Yes. In terms of the growth that we expect for 2018, I'm not going to give specific numbers, obviously, between livestock and companion. But I think when you look at 2017 for the full year, we had 5% growth in livestock and 14% growth in companion, so there was a big differential in the growth. As we move into 2018, with a very strong performance that we had in our companion animal portfolio in 2017, we've established a new base to grow off of, particularly in our derm portfolio as well as Simparica. So while we still expect those products to grow in 2018, the overall contribution that we'll have for the total companion animal growth will be smaller just as they're off of a much larger base. So that's going to cause our companion animal growth to decelerate as we move into 2018.

Operator

Operator

And we'll take the next question from Erin Wright with Crédit Suisse.

Erin Wilson

Analyst

In terms of the development pipeline, a follow-up here. I guess can you speak to some of the focus areas outside of traditional therapeutics? So for instance there, you launched a new diagnostic offering at VMX, you also have SMB opportunities and you mentioned some sales force investments there. Is that going to be a focus area for you in terms of new product launches near term? Will it be a more organic or inorganic initiative? And then, just could you speak to some of the -- you mentioned data and analytics but some of the other areas or ancillary areas outside of traditional therapeutics where you see growth opportunity? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Erin on that. We see Zoetis as a much more integrated offer to our customers, including the products in medicines, the change there, but also diagnostics, genetics. What we have to describe as a -- the health care cycle of intention also prediction, prevention and treatment. And definitely, we'll continue focus on our core business. In the core business we'll continue generating the majority of our revenues and profit. But we see opportunities to accelerate our growth by investing in some of these complementary spaces. Definitely, in genetics, diagnostics, data analytics are part of these efforts. We have now in diagnostics arranged on the pipeline that definitely we'll be focused on delivering in the next coming years. We also presented in the last congress of VMX, a new Carysta, high-volume chemistry that -- it's part of our efforts really to become a key player in diagnostics. But in a way, that will be integrated -- or we'll be integrating more all these portfolio in our offer to our customers. As well, we will be investing in data analytics essentials that will complement our offer to our customers.

Operator

Operator

The next question comes from Michael Ryskin with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Michael Ryskin

Analyst · Bank of America Merrill Lynch

A couple of questions on the quarter and then just a longer-term follow-up. Really strong results in U.S. livestock this quarter. I know it's a bit of surprise relative to what we are looking for. And particularly, U.S. cattle had a great number. You mentioned some of the disease conditions, but you also talked about feedlots and cattle herd size. I recognize that the weather and the [ days, months ] is more transient, but the feedlot data you should have pretty good visibility in. And I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit how the outlook there is sort of the first part of 2018. Is the feedlot strength sustainable? Is that something that you think it will continue for several quarters? And then broader on the '18 guide, you talked about a pretty sizable gross margin improvement, 120 bps year-over-year. Is the longer-term targets are still what you talked about, 200 bps by 2020? Or is there upside opportunity there, given how much improvement you're looking for this year? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Mike. I will respond about the U.S. livestock results. And then Glenn will provide the details of our gross margin improvement and also targets for the future. Well, in the U.S., definitely, we had a strong fourth quarter in the U.S. And this was just the result of several factors, including the weather conditions and movement of animals. Also the fact that we decided not to implement promotional activities in the third quarter and then views the -- for some more movement of sales from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2017. But the results are in some way, what we were expecting there and we also communicated in the previous quarter. So we saw that in the first…

Glenn David

Analyst · Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Yes. Mike, in terms of the gross margin, when you look at the 2018 guidance of approximately 32%, that's more in line with the second half of 2017, which is more reflective of our underlying cost structure as we've discussed on some of the previous calls. In terms of the 200-basis-point improvement by 2020, we remain committed to that improvement. And as we've said all along, that improvement is driven by the supply network strategy efforts, to the extent that there's additional opportunity based on price, based on volume, based on mix, which can grow on either direction, that can either have an incremental impact or an incremental improvement over the margin over that time or take away a little bit. But the 200 basis points was always based on the supply network strategy, and to the extent that we have favorable movement in price and mix, that would add additional margin improvement.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Alex Arfaei with BMO Capital Markets.

Alex Arfaei

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

Congratulations on the product performance and all the progress during the past 5 years, it's really remarkable. On the U.S. livestock business. Clearly, much better than expected. The difference is particularly striking, given what we are hearing from some of your competitors, particularly Elanco. So I'm just wondering, if you could highlight what are some of the differences that's driving better performance for your portfolio versus what we are seeing from some of your competitors? And then on the companion animal business, could you comment on the base business, excluding dermatology and Simparica? Is that stable? Or is it under pressure as some of those franchises mature? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Alex. And well, I -- probably I should focus on the drivers of our growth and it's basically because of our portfolio. We have a portfolio, which is extremely well-balanced on many different therapeutic carriers, talking about livestock. And these are also helping us -- as I said many times, the diversity is helping us really to manage different cycles, different opportunities, different challenge and really deliver results, which are very consistent and, in some cases, we're growing as faster than our competitors. And we don't see that the livestock business in the U.S. is showing any negative fundamentals. As I said, for '18, we expect the cattle business, beef and dairy combined, showing positive growth. We also expect that the swine and poultry will continue growing. In the case of swine, we expect that Zoetis will be growing faster on the market because we are introducing new products. And also we have seen that some of the challenges that we faced in '17 related to the PCV2 vaccine now are over. And at the same time, we are introducing new PCV2 vaccines covering more strength, but also will help us structurally with the growth in 2018. Poultry, also we expect a positive growth in the U.S. and will be growing in line with the market. So overall, very pleased with our performance and also positive about the prospects for livestock in the U.S. In terms of -- you also asked about companion animal and what has been the drivers of growth in '17 and also how we see the growth moving forward. Maybe, Glenn, you can provide the details of new products, price and also volume of growth for the price of the portfolio.

Glenn David

Analyst · BMO Capital Markets

In terms of companion animals in 2017, obviously, a lot of the growth was driven by our new products, and we had new products in a number of categories. So the ones that get the most attention, obviously, are Apoquel and Cytopoint and Simparica. But we also have significant growth coming from our vaccines as well. And these products were the focus of our field force in 2017. In terms of the rest of the portfolio, what you then called the in-line portfolio, performance in those categories was relatively flat as we did experience some pressures from generic competition in line with what our expectations would have been, particularly in the U.S. And that was offset by some strong performance, though, in our emerging markets that continue to grow as increasing medicalization rates in markets, such as China and Brazil continue to benefit us. So overall, relatively flat performance of our in-line portfolio, but a really strong performance from our new products as that was the focus of our field force with the tremendous products that we had to launch and continue growth in.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Jon Block with Stifel.

Jonathan Block

Analyst · Stifel

Two questions. Glenn, I've OpEx as a percent of revenue, that improved by the 270 basis points in '17. It was just huge. And the guide for '18, I believe, implies about a 70 bp improvement, OpEx as a percent of revenue with a rate of revenue growth, that really isn't too dissimilar in '18 versus '17. So I want to be clear, the 70 bps is nothing to sneeze at, but maybe if you can talk to the increased investments that you guys are pursuing and when those will yield the return or they just a function of sort of moving further away from the operational efficiency program. And then just to pivot, Juan Ramón, I really don't expect specifics, but any thoughts if you believe you will have it, call, a new blockbuster companion animal product in '19 and maybe that's from the triple or something out of the pain portfolio from Nexvet. Any details you guys can give there.

Glenn David

Analyst · Stifel

Jon, in terms of the OpEx improvement that we experienced in '17 versus what the expectation may be for 2018, it was really the latter of your comments. 2017, we continued to benefit from the remainder of our operational efficiency initiative and we were able to grow revenue significantly faster than OpEx in 2017. Now as we move into 2018, we still expect to grow revenue faster than OpEx but not to the same magnitude as we don't have the same level of improvement coming from our operational efficiency initiative. The other thing I'll point out for 2018 is there are investments that we're making in SG&A to support the continued development of our diagnostic portfolio and to make sure that we have the right commercial support behind those products as they become ready for launch. Juan Ramón Alaix: And answering about the potential opportunity of launching a future blockbuster. Definitely, we'll continue seeing opportunities of launching our products that generate significant growth. And I discussed about monoclonal antibodies for pain. I also talked about combination of products in parasiticide segment for internal and external enhancement of our productivity for livestock. At this point, commenting when these products will be launched, I think it's too premature. But we think that we can continue generating growth, which is in line [indiscernible] the market with existing portfolio and also the addition of a -- maybe a blockbuster, but also multiple products that will support our revenue growth. In our industry, as I mentioned many times, we are not dependent on bringing these blockbusters to generate consistent growth because we don't have the same impact that we see in pharma sales because of generic deceleration. So we are pleased with our pipeline. We are pleased with the return of our investment in R&D. And we'll continue our focus on generating internal value growth. And at the same time, as I see an opportunity that -- external opportunity that will enhance our opportunity to grow.

Operator

Operator

The next question is from John Kreger with William Blair.

John Kreger

Analyst · William Blair

Can you just expand a bit more on the diagnostic strategy? Not talked about it this much in the past. Should we think about that as more focused in companion animal or livestock and more sort of centralized or sort of point-of-care type of products? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, John. Let me say that we see diagnostics as an area that is growing faster than the average of animal health. And we see diagnostics also as a very complementary to our offer to customers and also an opportunity to leverage our existing relationship and infrastructure in many markets. The focus today is developing our internal pipeline, to bring these products into the market. We see that it's a significant competition in companion animal, especially in the U.S., much more opportunities to offer penetration in International market in companion animals. And because also our expertise and our presence in livestock, we see this area as a significant potential opportunity for Zoetis. And this should be in areas like rapid test point of care but also equipment. So this is where we are focused today in Zoetis. These type of point-of-care diagnostic tools that will help veterinarians in companion animal and livestock to make decisions at the point of care.

Operator

Operator

The next question is from David Risinger with Morgan Stanley.

David Risinger

Analyst · Morgan Stanley

I have two questions. The first is, could you provide a little bit more color on the ramp of new products, and specifically new companion animal products ex U.S. in 2018? And then second, with respect to cash flow for 2018, could you please discuss the outlook for operating cash flow and free cash flow in 2018 relative to 2017? Juan Ramón Alaix: I will provide some comments on the companion animal products outside of the U.S. Glenn also will maybe expanding in some of the details for International markets and definitely, will be commenting on the operating free cash flow. That's the question that you raised and also the outlook for 2018. We have seen in International markets a very high growth in companion animal. International markets are combination of the new product launches, Apoquel, to a lesser extent, Cytopoint, Simparica. But also the growth that we have seen in some of the major markets in companion animal in where the rates of medicalization has been growing very fast. And we have seen in countries like Brazil, China, significant growth. And in countries like China, we started new product launches. So we still see the opportunity of growth in the future once we introduce Apoquel, Cytopoint and Simparica in the Chinese market. We still see significant opportunities for growth in International markets because the level of penetration of Apoquel, Cytopoint and Simparica compared to the U.S. is much lower. So we expect in 2018 that we'll be -- continue enjoying growth in international markets in companion animal. Maybe, Glenn, you can maybe expand some details on this question and also on the free cash flow one.

Glenn David

Analyst · Morgan Stanley

In terms of our free cash flow and the cash flow that we expect for 2018. So our operating cash flow, we expect to grow pretty much in line with our growth in adjusted net income. As I also mentioned in my prepared remarks, with the increased expenditures we have for CapEx, free cash flow will grow slightly lower than what we expect to grow for operating cash flow.

Operator

Operator

The next will be Kathy Miner with Cowen.

Kathleen Miner

Analyst

Just wanted to follow up on the dermatology area a little bit more. Juan Ramón, I think you -- it sounds like you increased your guidance for the Cytopoint and Apoquel franchise to $500 million in 2018. Can you tell us if this is being driven more by Apoquel and/or Cytopoint? And what the penetration is in dogs now for the -- for dermatology conditions? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Kathy. And I think definitely, we have seen that the option of Apoquel and Cytopoint has been growing in 2017 very fast. And that's why we are now projecting for 2018 already to generate $500 million of -- in sales or more. Both products are -- performance is still well. And now I think it's something that we feel that pet owners when they go to clinics and they have dermatology issues, they are leaving the clinics with either Apoquel or Cytopoint. Definitely, the direct-to-consumer advertising has been helping to accelerate their option and also to expand the market. In terms of penetration, definitely, the penetration in the U.S. and in international market is different. In the U.S., we reported last quarter that we have a penetration of -- in terms of patients of about 59%. We have seen in the fourth quarter this penetration is stable. And it's something that, in some ways, was suspected because it's a quarter in where most of the use in -- it's in acute while -- I am sorry, chronic while we have seen increase in the penetration because of the use of acute and seasonal. Seasonal and acute is mainly in the second and third quarter, and we expect in 2018 continue growing in these acute and seasonal and also helping also to -- with the increase of awareness in terms of dermatology issues with our continued DTC campaign in 2018. We have not seen too much cannibalization of Apoquel because of Cytopoint. It's about 26%, which is what we were expecting. But I think it's something that we are offering -- both solutions to the veterinarians, and we are very pleased with the performance of these 2 products.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Liav Abraham with Citigroup.

Liav Abraham

Analyst · Citigroup

Just a quick question on the tax rate. You've guided to a tax rate of 21% to 22% for 2018. Can you comment on your outlook for tax beyond 2018 and the opportunity for this to be reduced further over time? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Liav. And we'll be -- Glenn, answering this question.

Glenn David

Analyst · Citigroup

In terms of the tax rate. As you mentioned, for 2018, we've guided to 21% to 22%. We haven't provided guidance for beyond 2018. There are additional cost of that kicking beyond 2018 for us then -- as coming into effect for 2019. We need to fully understand the impact of that. But again, the guidance for 2018, based on current understanding, we're comfortable with the 21% to 22% for 2018. Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Glenn. And maybe some clarification on the dermatology penetration. I mentioned data for the U.S., International markets there, definitely, we have a lower patient share. And we still see a lot of the room for growing in terms of patient share and also in terms of expanding the market.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Chris Schott with JPMorgan.

Christopher Schott

Analyst · JPMorgan

Just two quick ones here. First, anything -- I know you don't give quarterly guidance, but anything we should be keeping in mind as we think about quarterly progression of both top line and earnings if we think about 2018 relative to '17? And a second was just maybe following up on those comments on Apoquel and Cytopoint. Just a little bit more color, just how much more room for growth is there in this franchise beyond '18? And I guess, what I'm really trying to get is there any more color of how -- what -- or could -- what could peak sales look like for this franchise? I guess, as you start getting through '18 this $500-million-plus number. Is there still significant room for growth? Or are we starting to a point where we're seeing peak sales for these assets? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Chris. And let me cover the question on dermatology portfolio, and then Glenn will discuss about the quarterly projections for 2018. We still see growth not only in 2018 but in future years for dermatology portfolio. And maybe the growth in the market that the products has been introduced [indiscernible] like in the U.S. This growth will be moderated in the future. But there's still -- in many international markets, we are just introducing Cytopoint. Apoquel, definitely have a -- still a lot of opportunity to continue growing. I mentioned China as a country where we don't have yet Apoquel, and we expect also China generating growth in the future. So we don't see that 2018 will be our peak sales in terms of Apoquel. Cytopoint, on the contrary, will continue growing. Definitely, the growth will be moderated, but we expect also continue growing. And definitely, we'll see growth coming from volume but also growth are coming from prices.

Glenn David

Analyst · JPMorgan

In terms of the 2018 quarterly production, as you mentioned, we don't give 2018 guidance by quarter. But just a couple of things to think about. And we do expect more balanced growth in 2018 than we saw in 2017 and a more steady performance in terms of cost of goods as a percent of revenue than we saw in 2017, in particular. The other thing I'll point out is, we are moving from a 4-4-5 accounting calendar to a month-end accounting calendar, and that will have some small impact per quarter. The greatest impact that you'll see will probably be in Q4, where it could negatively impact our growth in Q4 2018 by almost 2%. So those are the only things that I would point out.

Operator

Operator

The next question is from Gregg Gilbert with Deutsche Bank.

Gregory Gilbert

Analyst · Deutsche Bank

Curious whether you saw any headwinds or benefits tied to the consolidation of vet clinics in the U.S. I realized there wouldn't be material effect for the whole year, for the whole company, but curious on that team as it continues to build. And my other question is about the environment overall in some of your competition. And one of the elephants in the room this year is Lilly will explore options for Elanco. And I know Juan Ramón, you've commented in the past that mergers among the larger players in the industry would be difficult from an antitrust perspective. But how would you view a spinoff of Elanco if that's what they decide to do? I'm curious on your thoughts there sort of operationally and otherwise as it relates to any effects, good or bad for Zoetis. Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Gregg. And definitely, we have seen a consolidation of vet clinics in the U.S. Also, we have seen not too much consolidation of clinics outside of the U.S. but there may be buy-in groups that also are having an impact. So far, we are managing very well the relationship with these clinics. In some cases, we have been able, really, to reach exclusive agreements for Simparica on one of these larger groups that -- it's something that we see as a very positive. We understand that, in some cases, we may tap some pressure in terms of prices, which is part of also our projections in our model. But at the same time, where we see the opportunity also of expanding the health care because of better services to veterinarians. So we see also that in the case of Zoetis, we have a portfolio of specialty care. That is also providing significant benefits to this change of clinics and definitely, we are managing extremely well. It was a very positive collaboration with [ man field ] in the future -- in the past. We also have good collaboration with the VCA, and we expect that the combination of the 2 groups also will continue positive for Zoetis. In terms of the decisions of Elanco. I think it's something that -- I prefer not to comment on other companies' strategic reviews. We went through our process 5 years ago. It was the right decision for Pfizer and also for, as what you said, very pleased with our performance. And definitely, we have seen the benefits of being at Zoetis, having a single focus on animal health and a singular focus on providing value to our customers and to our shareholders.

Operator

Operator

And we'll go next to Jami Rubin with Goldman Sachs.

Candace Richardson

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

This is Candace Richardson on for Jami Rubin. I have two quick questions. Tempered growth in the U.S. companion this quarter appears to be related to tougher comps from certain products that launched last year. When should we expect this to annualize? And then secondly, your recent dividend increase of nearly 20% is among the highest in the industry. We're wondering if there's a specific payout ratio you're looking to achieve. And given that you're the only stand-alone public animal health company, what comps do you look at when you evaluate your dividend policy? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you for your question. Please, Glenn, do you mind answering the question?

Glenn David

Analyst · Goldman Sachs

Yes. So in terms of U.S. companion animal growth for 2017. For the full year, we had 13% operational growth in U.S. companion animal. In the quarter, we had 15% growth. So we saw another continued quarter of very strong growth in U.S. companion animals. So not necessarily tempered growth for Q4. In terms of our dividend policy. We generally grow our dividend at or pace faster than our growth in adjusted net income. And that is our commitment moving forward is that we'll continue to grow our dividend at or faster than income and have a focus on dividend growth. We're also focused on share repurchase as another way to return excess capital to our shareholders. And we currently prefer share repurchase as a -- gives us a little more flexibility to manage the other priorities we have for capital allocation, being our internal investments as well as business development.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Douglas Tsao with Barclays.

Douglas Tsao

Analyst · Barclays

Just focusing on the companion business. You referenced some greater amount of competition for the in-line products. Just curious if that is a trend that you expect to continue. And then just when you think about the growth for the dermatology franchise going forward, should we -- it'd be safe to assume that a lot of the growth going forward will come from the ex U.S. And if you think about that peak potential, I know people sort of hinted at this question, but do you think that the ex U.S. opportunity could be ultimately as big as what we've seen in the United States? Juan Ramón Alaix: Thank you, Doug. We don't see that the competition has been increasing in companion animal for our in-line portfolio. Definitely, we have seen the impact of generics in line with previous years and also in line with our predictions. Definitely, vaccines, which have been growing very fast in our opinion, growing faster than the market for companion animals. So in general, we understand that there has been new problems in the pain market in 2017 that has an impact on RIMADYL. But this is not something we see as greater competition in our in-line. Maybe our in-line portfolio has been affected because of so many products, new products that have been launched in period year. And as you can imagine, the level of attention of our field force during this period has been intentionally in these new products. But we are very pleased also with the performance of our in-line. And definitely, we see that this in-line will be performing according to our projections. In terms of the dermatology portfolio opportunity outside of the U.S., so there is probably a couple of years or 18 months difference in terms of the interaction of Apoquel in international markets. Cytopoint, that it was introduced in U.S. at the end of '16 or mid-'16, has been introduced at the end of '17 in Europe, still not introduced in many international markets. I mentioned that even Apoquel is not yet approved in China, and we expect approval in the future. So definitely, it's a significant opportunity of growing our dermatology portfolio outside of the U.S. But still, we see opportunities of continue growing in the U.S. And definitely, we'll be supporting this growth with a DTC campaign in 2018 in our U.S. markets.

Operator

Operator

And we'll go next to Brett Wong with Piper Jaffray.

Brett Wong

Analyst · Piper Jaffray

You talked a bit about your positive expectations for U.S. livestock. But can you comment on kind of the International livestock business, specifically in your key markets, like cattle Brazil, hogs in China, et cetera? And if you expect the strength that you saw in 2017 to continue in '18? Juan Ramón Alaix: We see livestock in international markets also continue positive. China show companion animal, 20% growth in '17. This was the combination of companion animal and livestock. There are always, as we mentioned many times, in current cycle prices of pork in China and some of our markets there, they kind of affect temporary some of the growth drivers. But one of the advantages of Zoetis that we explained many times is the diversity of our business in all the geographies. In terms of Brazil, we don't see any change in the fundamentals of our business in Brazil. The cattle business is doing very well, swine doing very well. We have some challenge in 2017 in our poultry business in Brazil. But overall, we see also projections for livestock International as a positive for 2018. And again, so -- we may see some quarterly fluctuations in some of the markets. But these are not indicative of the fundamentals of the markets, that should be a rise on a longer period of time. And we don't see any significant or any headwind in terms of the projections for 2018 in international markets for livestock.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to David Westenberg with CL King.

David Westenberg

Analyst · CL King

So my question is, some of our research is suggesting that veterinarians do tend to like order in bulk and from one vendor for additional discounts. So with the derm portfolio now approaching $500 million in sales, what's the opportunity to add to the product bag of the veterinarian. There's Simparica and vaccines and -- what's the cross-selling opportunity on derm becomes a $500 million drug?

Glenn David

Analyst · CL King

So -- this is Glenn. We do think there are definitely opportunities to leverage our portfolio and in many of our markets, we have programs that do provide additional incentives with the more products that you buy from Zoetis. So we're definitely able to leverage the scale that we have with Apoquel, with Cytopoint, with Simparica with many other vaccines to provide additional discounts for buying our total portfolio versus just buying one of our individual products. Juan Ramón Alaix: And when we are talking about the total portfolio, so we include products looks like rapid test and diagnostics or, in the future, equipments. So that's why we see the advantage of integrating a larger portfolio and offer this portfolio to our customers.

Operator

Operator

And it appears we have no further questions. I'll return the floor to you, Juan Ramón, for closing remarks. Juan Ramón Alaix: Well, thank you very much for joining us. And thank you for your questions and looking forward to have another discussion for the first quarter of 2018. Thank you very much.

Operator

Operator

And this will conclude today's program. Thanks for your participation. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.