Forecourt retailer Applegreen saw its group revenue increase by 27% in the first half of 2018, according to its latest trading update.
The group’s unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2018 showed that the group brought in €854.9 million - a 30% increase on a constant currency basis.
Robust Growth
In non-fuel, the group reported a like-for-like growth of 3.5% at constant currency thanks to its food and store units.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 17% to €19.4 million in the period, up from €16.6 million in the same period last year - up 18% on a constant currency basis.
"We are pleased with the performance of our business during 2018. Applegreen is entering an exciting phase of growth in the UK service area market with the recent announcement of the Welcome Break transaction. This will be transformational for Applegreen by giving us critical mass in a key market and is expected to close in Q4 2018,” said Bob Etchingham, CEO.
On 2nd of August, Applegreen announced that it had entered into contracts which would see it take a 50.01% stake in Welcome Break, a leading UK Motorway Service Area.
Expansion
"The business continued to expand in each of our three markets as we increased our estate by 26 sites to a total of 368 locations trading at the end of the period. We opened seven new sites in the Republic of Ireland, 15 in the UK and four in the US in H1 2018,” Etchingham continued.
In addition, the group opened 14 new food outlets in the period to bring its total to 274 outlets.
Etchingham also highlighted that its performance continued strong despite the severe weather in March which disrupted activities in its three markets, Ireland, the UK and the US.
"Our financial performance for the first six months of 2018 has been robust notwithstanding the difficult trading conditions caused by the exceptional weather in March, especially in our Irish business. Apart from the impact of this one-off event, the underlying business continues to perform well and we remain confident in the prospects for the business in 2018."
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
