29 May 2017 07:00
Applegreen plc
AGM Statement
Dublin, London, 29 May 2017: Applegreen plc (‘Applegreen’ or the ‘Group’), a major petrol forecourt retailer in the Republic of Ireland with a growing presence in the United Kingdom is holding its AGM today at 11.00 a.m. at the Herbert Park Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
At the AGM, Daniel Kitchen, Chairman of Applegreen, will make the following statement:
Applegreen had a positive start to the 2017 financial year both in terms of trading and the development of the business.
Our business in Ireland is delivering strong growth in non-fuel sales in particular while fuel margin experience has been in line with 2016. We continue to enjoy good growth in UK food sales as we expand our branded food offering. Overall the trading performance of the business for the first four months of the year has been in line with the Board’s expectations.
Since 31 December 2016 we have added 16 sites to the estate.
In the Republic of Ireland we have added four new Petrol Filling Stations (‘PFS’), one new Service Area and five dealer sites. In the UK we have opened three new PFS as well as our latest Motorway Service Area in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Our pipeline of new PFS continues to be strong in both the Republic of Ireland and the UK.
We have also opened two new PFS sites in the New England area of the USA and have made very good progress in generating further opportunities to grow in that region. We have added to our management team to cater for the growth planned in that region.
We completed six rebrands/ upgrades so far this year including two former PFS sites in Great Britain that we upgraded to Trunk Road Service Areas.
The pipeline of Service Areas continues to develop in both Ireland and the UK. We have a significant number of prospects in both core markets at various stages of the planning process and are confident of further expanding our businesses in each territory.
Subject to shareholder approval, we intend to pay a maiden dividend of 1.25c per share in June 2017. We committed to a prudent dividend policy at the time of our IPO and our financial performance since then warrants this move to deliver further shareholder value
In summary, the Board is very satisfied with the progress and performance of the business for the first four months of the year. This gives us confidence in our ability to meet our growth targets for 2017.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Applegreen
Bob Etchingham, CEO / Paul Lynch CFO +353 (0) 1 512 4800
Drury Porter Novelli (Irish media):
Paddy Hughes +353 (0) 1 260 5000
Goodbody
Joe Gill +353 (0) 1 667 0420
Siobhan Wall
Shore Capital
Stephane Auton +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
Patrick Castle
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