LONDON (Alliance News) - Applegreen PLC on Tuesday reported a fall in annual profit due to higher costs which more than offset a double-digit increase in revenue.
For 2018, the Dublin-based roadside retailer and petrol station operator posted pretax profit of EUR15.4 million, down 30% from EUR22.0 million a year ago.
Revenue jumped 41% year-on-year to EUR2.01 billion from EUR1.43 billion.
However, selling & distribution costs jumped by 62% to EUR211.5 million from EUR130.3 million, administrative costs rose 70% to EUR51.8 million from EUR30.5 million, and finance costs multiplied to EUR9.0 million from EUR1.5 million.
"We are delighted to announce another strong set of results for Applegreen. The performance was driven by ongoing expansion of our estate, positive like for like growth despite weather related disruption and strong fuel margin performance, particularly in the fourth quarter of the year," Chief Executive Officer Bob Etchingham said.
He added: "The acquisition of the second largest UK Motorway Service Area operator, Welcome Break, is transformational for our business. It gives us an excellent platform to develop our Service Area business in the UK market. The Applegreen business continued to expand in each of our three markets as we increased our estate by 130 sites to a total of 472 locations."
The company proposed a final 0.91 Euro cents dividend, taking its total payout to 1.54 cents, up 10% on last year's 1.40 cents.
Looking ahead, the firm said that despite macro-economic uncertainty, trading conditions "remain generally good".
"We anticipate another year of robust growth for the business. Our primary focus will be on the integration of Welcome Break and further reducing leverage but we will also continue to evaluate new opportunities to further expand the business in the future," Etchingham said.
Applegreen shares were trading up 1.7% at 508.50 pence each early Monday morning.
