Bob Etchingham, chief executive of Applegreen, has told analysts that electric charging could be “a significant profit centre” for the company, which would be exposed to a shift away from petrol and diesel sales.
The roadside retailer has said that it expects to generate 'significant' profits from electric car charging, by installing hundreds of own-brand power points at its stations and charging customers double what it pays for the electricity, report The Sunday Times.
The group which launched it's first electric vehicle chargers this month, at its motorway service area in Birdhill in Limerick, said that it will start charging customers for electricity 'within months'.
Etchingham said: "We do intend putting our own [charging] units on service area sites. This would, in time, become a significant profit centre for the business."
He highlighted that the group would see itself having a universal ability to charge all cars, with the exception of Tesla.
Growth Trend
According to The Sunday Times, Etchingham highlighted electric charging as a "long-term, growth trend".
"An emerging trend that's literally in the early stages is the adoption of electric vehicles and, in particular, recharging on the strategic road network," he added, "we believe our service areas will be net beneficiaries of trend."
Revenue Increase
Applegreen plc has reported a 73% revenue increase in the first half of 2019 to €1.5 billion, its latest financial results, which it published on the 20 September, 2019 showed.
Group gross profit increased by 145% to €268 million during the period, according to its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.
Recent Acquisitions
The integration of Welcome Break, which it acquired in October 2018 is 'going well', the group said in September.
Following the Welcome Break acquisition, new brand partners include Starbucks, Waitrose, WH Smith, KFC, Pizza Express, Harry Ramsden and the Ramada and Days Inn hotel brands.
These are in addition to existing brands including Burger King, Subway, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Lavazza, Chopstix, Freshii and 7-Eleven, some of which also have an existing presence on the Welcome Break network.
The group now operates 483 sites in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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