Fuel forecourt retailer Applegreen has reported a strong rise in its financial performance in 2015, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €28.9m – a 26% rise year on year.
In its first year listed on the Irish stock exchange, the company saw a 30% increase in gross profit on 2014 to €125.9m.
Applegreen said its revenues rose by 15% to €1.08 billion as like-for-like sales improved by 8.9%, and it increased the number of sites it operated.
Meanwhile, capital expenditure for 2015 was €58.8m and the net debt position for the company at the end of the year was €4.7m.
The company’s IPO last June raised €66.3m in primary capital.
Applegreen had 200 sites across Ireland and the UK by the end of last year – a rise of almost a quarter on the 2014 figure of 152.
The business employs around 2,900 people across Ireland, the UK, and the US.
Commenting on the results, CEO of Applegreen Bob Etchingham said: “This performance was driven by new site openings in both the latter part of 2014 and early 2015 as well as the increased contribution from food driven by our upgrade and rebranding programme.
“We continued to expand our business in the year adding five Service Area sites and seven petrol filling stations in the Republic of Ireland, as well as expanding our network of dealer sites by 25.
“We have had a positive start to 2016, adding four Service Area sites and seven petrol filling stations to the estate and we continue to see good opportunities for green field and bolt-on expansion,” he added.
