Business support services company DCC has reported higher revenues and profits for the year to the end of March, with all of its divisions recording "good" profit growth.
The company's services range from distributing oil to making The Body Shop's body butters.
DCC said its total revenues rose by over 16% to £14.265 billion, while its pre-tax profits increased by 26.6% to £316.4m from £249.8m during the previous year.
The company has proposed a 10% increase in its final dividend, which will see its total dividend rising by 10% to 122.98 pence from 111.80 pence.
This marks the 24th consecutive year of dividend growth since DCC listed in 1994.
During the year, DCC spent a record £670m on acquisitions, the highest level of spend in the company's history. The deals included Retail West and Elite One Source, the company's first entry into the big US markets for LPG and health and beauty solutions.
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"The acquisition activity during the year again demonstrates DCC's ability to acquire and integrate businesses in our existing markets to strengthen our market positions, build scale and increase our relevance and service offerings to customers and suppliers," commented the company's chief executive Donal Murphy.
"Importantly, it also reflects our strategy to extend our geographic footprint over time, as evidenced by DCC LPG's first acquisitions in the US and Asia and DCC Healthcare's first acquisition in the US. These acquisitions in new markets will provide further opportunities for both organic and acquisitive growth for the Group," he added.
Mr Murphy said the company continues to have the opportunity, ambition and capacity for further development across each of its divisions, supported by a strong and liquid balance sheet.
"We expect that the year to 31 March 2019 will be another year of profit growth and development for the Group," the CEO added.
Mr Murphy, who took over from long-time chief executive Tommy Breen in July, had said in November he could not say how much the company would earmark for further acquisitions, but would like to deploy capital across all four of its businesses.
Breaking down its divisions, the company said its DCC LPG division saw operating profits rise by 4.4% to £167.5m, while volumes grew by almost 20% on the back of the previous year's deal for Gaz Europeen and the acquisition of Shell Hong Kong and Macau.
It noted that the LPG business in Ireland was boosted by growth in commercial volumes, which it said reflected continued strong demand from existing and new customers in the sector.
Operating profits at the company's DCC Retail and Oil division jumped by over 20% to £113.8m while volumes rose by 6.4%.
DCC Retail and Oil sold 12.3 billion litres of products during the year, on the back of the deal for Dansk Fuels and Esso Retail Norway last October.
The business also got a slight boost from good heating oil demand in the UK and Ireland after a marginally colder than average winter.
Full year revenue at DCC Healthcare's division moved 1.6% higher to £514.6m while its operating profits rose by 11% to £54.3m.
It noted that a strong performance from the Irish business reflected a full year contribution from Medisource, which was bought in January 2017, as well as continued strong growth in the supply of medical devices to the hospital and community care sectors.
Meanwhile, operating profits at DCC Technology jumped by 16.3% to £47.8m while revenues for the year increased by 14.7% to £3.083 billion on the back of recent acquisitions and organic profit growth in the UK, Ireland and the Nordics.
