Fuel forecourt retailer Applegreen has reported a strong rise in performance in its first year listed on the Irish stock exchange.
Last year the company had earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of almost €29 million – that is up 26% year on year.
Applegreen saw its revenues rise 15% to €1.08 billion - as like-for-like sales improved and it increased the number of sites it operated.
"It was a landmark year for Applegreen," according to CEO Bob Etchingham, referring to the company's flotation in June 2015. "We delivered a tremendous set of financial results on the back of that."
The company's IPO left it with more than €66m in cash, which at the time it said would go towards its expansion in the Irish and British markets.
That plan in clearly in train based on its results, with Applegreen growing its number of sites to 200 by the end of December 2015 - up almost 25% year on year.
Applegreen had a capital expenditure spend of almost €59m in the year to fund that - and the expansion is set to continue into 2016.
"We do foresee that we'll continue with that very strong level of spending throughout 2016 and the funds will be pretty much spent by the end of the calendar year," Mr Etchingham said.
Within that the company will be focusing on the Irish market, he said, but will be increasingly turning its attentions its British operations too. In terms of the nature of that expansion, Mr Etchingham said it would be a mixture of natural growth and acquisitions.
"We usually acquire single sites, we build out new greenfield sites, we're especially interested in motorway service areas and locations where we can sell food and beverage," he said. "We've seen in the recent few months a good improvement in consumer confidence and consumer spending."
However the landscape of the forecourt business in Ireland is likely to change somewhat in the months and years ahead, following the acquisition of Topaz by Canadian operator Couche-Tard.
That deal was only completed in recent months, but other players are sure to be watching closely to see what plans it has for its Irish operations.
"It's early days and it's difficult to say at this stage [what it means for Applegreen]," he said. "Like the rest of the industry we were rather surprised, especially at the timing of the sale.
"We don't know a lot about Couche-Tard but we expect they will take a very rational approach to competing in the market."
MORNING BRIEFS - The ESB saw its profit after interest and tax rise 33% in 2015 to €286m, from €71m a year earlier.
The semi-state company said the increase came primarily from an improvement in the amount of time its power plants were available to generate energy.
The firm, which employees 7,300 people, said it was also continuing to benefit from cost savings of €270m a year, which have been achieved since 2010.
A dividend of €214m to the Government at the start of 2015 brought the total paid to the State in the past decade to €1.5bn.
***
Construction activity increased at its fastest pace in more than 15 years last month, according to the latest Construction Purchasing Managers Index from Ulster Bank.
New business expanded sharply during the month, which prompted firms to increase their purchasing activity and employment to near record rates.
A separate survey from Hays Ireland suggested that demand for construction and property-related jobs rose by 46% during February - with electrical engineers and architects amongst the most in-demand professionals.
Despite the strong improvement construction activity still remains relatively low, however, with figures last week suggesting output was around 50 percent lower than the pre-crash peak.
