Ireland-headquartered energy to distribution group DCC has reported record operating profits for the year to the end of March and said it expects the next year to be one of further operating profit enhancement.
DCC said today that its full year operating profits rose by 11.3% to £655.7m from £589.2m the previous year.
Its revenues jumped by over 25% to £22.205 billion from £17.732 billion on the back of higher energy commodity prices.
DCC, which sells LPG, operates service stations and electric vehicle fast-charging networks and distributes medical and electronic products, said it spent £360m on 19 acquisitions during the year.
These included DCC Healthcare's acquisition of Medi-Globe and DCC Energy's acquisition of PVO.
The company also today confirmed 29 years of consecutive dividend growth, with the board proposing a 6.5% increase to the total dividend for the year of 187.21 pence per share.
Breaking down its divisions, revenue in DCC Energy rose by 30.8% to £16.1 billion, with like-for-like volumes modestly behind the prior year.
The company said the significant increase in revenue was as a result of the higher wholesale cost of energy commodities during the year.
DCC Healthcare recorded revenues of £821.5m, an increase of 7.4%, on the back of the acquisition of Medi-Globe during the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, revenue in DCC Technology was £5.3 billion, up 13.3%. It said the increase was driven by the acquisition of Almo which completed in December 2021.
"DCC delivered strong growth in a volatile macro environment, demonstrating the resilience of our diverse business and the commitment of our teams throughout the group," the company's chief executive Donal Murphy said in today's results statement.
"In line with our capital allocation priorities, we committed £360m to new acquisitions during the period, bringing our spend in the last three years to £1.3 billion".
"This has increased our scale and geographic reach in the healthcare and technology sectors," he said.
"We also accelerated DCC Energy's services and renewable offering through 10 acquisitions since we launched our "Leading with Energy" strategy a year ago, complementing our organic initiatives to bring cleaner energy to our customers," the CEO said.
"We have exciting growth platforms to invest in what the world needs: cleaner and reliable energy, lifelong health and progressive technology," he added.
Earlier this month the company said that Donal Murphy will temporarily step back from work to address a medical condition.
DCC said its chief financial officer Kevin Lucey will take on Mr Murphy's day-to-day responsibilities.
