Applegreen weathers storm with strong growth
Irish forecourt operator Applegreen has said it has “a good pipeline” of further development opportunities in both its service area sites and petrol filling stations.
The company said last month it would continue to target expansion opportunities, mainly in the UK and the US, after agreeing terms to buy a majority stake, for almost €362m, in British motorway services station operator Welcome Break.
Yesterday, Applegreen reported a 27% year-on-year rise in first-half revenues to €854.9m, with gross profit up 30% on the same period last year and adjusted earnings ahead by 17% at €19.4m.
UK revenues increased by 33% while Irish revenues rose almost 6%, with that growth affected by tough weather conditions.
“The business continued to expand in each of our three markets as we increased our estate by 26 sites to a total of 368 locations,” said chief executive Bob Etchingham.
We opened seven new sites in the Republic, 15 in the UK, and four in the US in the first half.
Mr Etchingham said the Welcome Break deal, which is expected to close before the end of the year, will be “transformational”, giving Applegreen “critical mass in a key market”.
In Ireland, Mr Etchingham said despite the harsh weather during the first half of the year, the underlying business continues to perform well.
Our financial performance for the first six months of 2018 has been robust, notwithstanding the difficult trading conditions caused by the exceptional weather in March, especially in our Irish business
“Apart from the impact of this one-off event, the underlying business continues to perform well and we remain confident in the prospects for the business in 2018.”
