(Sharecast News) - Fuel and lubricants retailer Vivo Energy said on Friday that fourth-quarter trading had continued to be "positive", driven by the ongoing recovery of the retail segment.
Vivo Energy stated its fourth-quarter performance continued momentum built in the third and led to full-year fuel volumes of 9.6bn litres, 7% below the previous year.
The FTSE 250-listed group added that its performance was also supported by unit margin tailwinds experienced in the third quarter continuing through the final quarter.
As a result, Vivo now expects full-year adjusted underlying earnings to be above the top end of the range of current market expectations of $331.0m to $354.0m, with its second-half performance broadly in line with that seen a year earlier.
Due to the positive performance, Vivo also intends to recommend the payment of a dividend of 3.8 cents per share in respect of 2020.
Chief executive Christian Chammas said: "The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant adverse impact on our business in the first half of 2020. Since then the group has recovered strongly, with the second half in line with the comparable period in 2019, and this positive performance has continued into 2021.
"As a result, we are cautiously optimistic, and believe that we are well-positioned for the future due to our leading positions in structural growth markets, together with our diversified and resilient business model."
As of 0900 GMT, Vivo shares were up 6.01% at 82.90p.
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