Ireland-based forecourt operator Applegreen saw gross profit of €181.7 million in 2017, representing growth of 24.6% compared to the previous year.
The group, which has operations in Ireland, the UK and the US, saw revenue rise 21% to €1.43 billion, while EBITDA increased by 24% to €39.8 million.
Like-for-like profit experienced a 7.4% increase, but growth was also driven by the company's continued network expansion.
Applegreen acquired 99 new sites last year, including the opening of 77 new food outlets, bringing its total to 342 sites. The group completed its acquisitions of the Brandi Group in the US and the Carsley Group in the UK, and also purchased a majority stake in Joint Fuels Terminal in Ireland.
Group CEO Bob Etchingham described these as "another strong set of results" for the business.
"This performance was underpinned by positive like for like growth, particularly in the Republic of Ireland, ongoing expansion of our estate and an enhanced fuel margin resulting from our acquisition of a 50% stake in the Joint Fuels Terminal in Dublin Port,” he said.
Outlook
Looking ahead, Applegreen says that it plans to continue these growth and expansion plans.
“We are confident in the prospects for the company in 2018 as our underlying business continues to perform well and we further evolve our growth strategy," added Etchingham.
"The significant acquisitions completed in 2017 are performing as expected and we are well placed to progress both our organic and acquisition led development plans in the coming year.”
Commenting on today's results, Darren Shirley, consumer equity analyst at Shore Capital, said that 2017 was a strategic year for Applegreen, with strong profit growth, and so is upgrading the outlook for the business.
"We upgrade our FY2018 EBITDA expectations by 5% to €47.1 million, and introduce FY2019 and FY2020 numbers that forecast three year EBITDAR CAGR of 15%, attractive in our view."
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
