Forecourt retailer Applegreen has made a 'positive' start to the year, with performance up on the same period in 2017.
In a statement to coincide with he group's AGM, which takes place today, Applegreen said that 'trading results continuing to improve on the prior year', in spite of the 'severe weather in March' which affected the group's entire portfolio, particularly its Irish operation.
The Dublin-headquartered group has added 24 new sites to its portfolio since year-end, with seven new sites opening in the Republic of Ireland, 14 new outlets opening in the UK, and three in the US.
Network Expansion
The group said that it has also reached an agreement to lease a network of 43 filling station sites from CrossAmerica Partners LP, which are located in Florida.
This transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of the year.
"We are delighted to build on our existing relationship with CAP given our continued focus on expanding our operations in the US market," said Daniel Kitchen, Applegreen chairman.
"We believe this transaction provides us with the ability to leverage our operational expertise and enhance the retail offering at these locations. It also further increases our footprint in the south east following our successful acquisition of the Brandi Group in South Carolina last October."
Applegreen said that it intends to pay a final dividend of 0.80c per share to registered shareholders, which will "bring the total dividend for the financial year 2017 to 1.40c per share," Kitchen added.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
