Applegreen (APGN) might be busy integrating last October’s Welcome Break acquisition, but that didn’t stop the forecourt retailer from reporting 2018 profits a little ahead of broker Shore Capital’s forecasts. Welcome Break added 43 sites to the company’s existing UK estate which, along with two acquisitions in the US, took the total number of new openings up to 130 and total estate numbers to 472. This, in turn, drove group revenues up by more than 40 per cent last year to €2bn (£1.71bn), leaving underlying cash profits up by 46 per cent to €58.1m, although it should be noted that the group achieved a growth rate of 20 per cent even when the acquisition is discounted.
Predictably, the balance sheet has altered drastically on the back of the deal, with marked increases in intangible assets, inventories and trade receivables. With pro-forma cash profit equivalent to 3.9 times net debt, investors will be assessing the group's ability to meet financing obligations once Welcome Break is fully embedded.
Analysts at Shore Capital still expect pre-tax profits of €69.5m in 2019, giving EPS of 32.2¢, compared with €28.5m and 25.7¢ in 2018.
| APPLEGREEN (APGN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 500p | MARKET VALUE: | £603m | |
| TOUCH: | 492-508p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 590p | LOW: 490p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.3% | PE RATIO: | 43 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 300¢* | NET DEBT: | 180% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (€bn) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2014 | 0.94 | 15.0 | 20.5 | nil |
| 2015 | 1.08 | 14.0 | 17.1 | nil |
| 2016 | 1.18 | 20.0 | 21.5 | 1.3 |
| 2017 | 1.43 | 22.0 | 22.5 | 1.4 |
| 2018 | 2.01 | 15.4 | 13.7 | 1.5 |
| % change | +41 | -30 | -39 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 6 Jun | |||
| Payment: | 28 Jun | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of €493m, or 409¢ a share. £1=€1.17 | ||||
