Applegreen (APGN) is a petrol forecourt retailer with operations in Ireland, the UK and the US, and spent the six months to June adding 32 new sites to the portfolio to reach 275 at the period-end. Higher profit were driven by strong fuel margins in core markets and a 5.4 per cent rise in like-for-like food sales. Additional income came from new sites – 11 in Ireland, eight in this country and 13 in New England. Of the total, five were dealer sites and 27 were company-owned. There were also nine upgrades, which involved adding one or more new food outlets on each site. After the period-end, Applegreen announced the Brandi Group acquisition in South Carolina (42 sites) and Carsley Group in the UK (seven sites).
A larger estate in the UK pushed revenue and gross profit there ahead by nearly a quarter, with combined food and store sales up by 11.8 per cent. The rise on a like-for-like basis was modest at 0.8 per cent, however. In Ireland, profit was up by 16.4 per cent, while it is early days across the pond.
The steady increase in site numbers meant that selling and distribution expenses rose by 19 per cent, and further cost increases are likely as the network is expanded.
Prior to these numbers, broker Shore Capital was forecasting pre-tax profit for the year to December 2017 of €22.1m (£19.9m) and EPS of 22.9¢ (from €21m and 22.4¢ in 2016).
| APPLEGREEN (APGN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 517p | MARKET VALUE: | £418m | |
| TOUCH: | 510-524p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 517p | LOW: 360p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.3% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 150¢ | NET DEBT: | 27% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2016 | 556 | 7.5 | 8.1 | nil |
| 2017 | 673 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 0.6 |
| % change | +21 | +19 | +16 | - |
| Ex-div: | 21 Sep | |||
| Payment: | 20 Oct | |||
| £1=€1.10 | ||||
