Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates the Circle K and Ingo chains has posted a 21.1% increase in revenue in the second quarter of its financial year.
The Forecourt retailer attributed this mainly due to increased fuel prices and acquisitions.
Revenue at the Canada-based group, stood at $14.7 billion (€13.03 billion) for the quarter, an increase of $2.6 billion on the same period last year.
Merchandise Revenues
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.
“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.
'Strong Performance'
Hannasch said that the group is 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 its 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,” he added.
Rebranding in Ireland
The canadian firm bought Topaz from businessman Denis O’Brien in 2015 in a deal valued at over €400 million.
The forecourt operator Topaz started rebranding as Circle K in April this year.
At the time the group said that it had allocated €20 million 'to change its more than 420 forecourts across the country over the next 18 months'.
Looking Ahead
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.”
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
