LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish petrol forecourt retailer Applegreen PLC on Tuesday said pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of 2016, driven by growth in revenue and helped by one-off costs booked a year prior not recurring.
Applegreen said its pretax profit in the half year to the end of June was EUR7.5 million, more than double the EUR3.0 million made a year earlier, in part due to higher financing costs booked in 2015 related to the company June 2015 listing in London.
Revenue in the first half increased to EUR556.0 million from EUR517.5 million a year before, with particularly strong growth in the Irish market. The company increased its total estate to 220 sites at the end of June, up from 200 at the end of December, and said it has a strong pipeline of new openings in place, particularly in the UK.
The group also opened 17 new food outlets and signed a franchise agreement with US retailer 7-Eleven to support its growth in the US market.
"We are pleased to report another strong set of results reflecting our performance in the first half of 2016. Growth was particularly strong in the Republic of Ireland where our Service Areas and recent upgrades are well positioned to capture the demand from positive consumer sentiment," said Applegreen Chief Executive Bob Etchingham.
"In the UK, a more competitive environment impacted growth in the early part of the year and while this abated, we also noted a more cautious consumer in advance of the Brexit vote," he added.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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