Forecourt retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard has posted a 21.1% increase in revenue in the second quarter of its financial year, mainly due to increased fuel prices and acquisitions.
Revenue at the Canada-based group, which operates the Circle K and Ingo chains, stood at $14.7 billion (€13.03 billion) for the quarter, an increase of $2.6 billion on the same period last year.
Total merchandise and service revenues for the period amounted to $3.5 billion, an increase of 11.1%, with same store merchandise revenues growing by 4.6% across the group's European operations, as well as by 4.4% in the US and 5.1% in Canada.
'Strong Performance'
“We had strong performance this quarter across the entire network. In particular, I am pleased with year-over-year same-store merchandise revenues," said Brian Hannasch, President and CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard.
“We are also pleased with the improvement in year-over-year same-store sales results in Canada and in Europe driven by new promotions and the continued success of our food programs in many areas. Overall, we feel good about the momentum we are seeing in our stores as we continue our network-wide push of promotional and marketing programs.”
The group continues its rollout of the Circle K brand in the US and Ireland during the period, and said that by the end of the second quarter, more than 4,050 stores in North America and more than 1,800 stores across Europe are now displaying the brand.
“This was once again an impressive quarter in terms of cash-flow generation and continuation of our deleveraging plan," said Claude Tessier, the company's CFO.
"We also efficiently managed inflationary pressure from both wages and other costs while keeping our operating expenses under control. This is due to our strict financial discipline as we continue our strategic growth trajectory and increasing value for our shareholders.”
In Europe, Alimentation Couche-Tard boasts stores in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland and Poland.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
