Applegreen plc, a major forecourt retailer with operations in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States is holding its AGM today at the which, Daniel Kitchen, Chairman of Applegreen, will make the following statement:
“Applegreen had a positive start to the 2018 financial year with trading results continuing to improve on the prior year. The severe weather in March however affected business across all our markets but particularly in Ireland, while recent international fuel price increases have adversely impacted on fuel margins.
The Group has continued to invest in the estate with a total of 24 sites being added to the portfolio since 31 December 2017. Seven new sites were added in the Republic of Ireland, 14 new sites in the UK and three new sites in the US. Two of the new sites in the Republic of Ireland were Service Areas.
We have also reached agreement to lease a network of 43 petrol filling station sites from CrossAmerica Partners LP (“CAP”) (NYSE:CAPL). These assets are all located in Florida.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Applegreen will enter into a long-term agreement to lease the property assets from CAP. This transaction is expected to complete, subject to a number of conditions, in Q3 2018.
We are delighted to build on our existing relationship with CAP given our continued focus on expanding our operations in the US market. 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.
Subject to shareholder approval, we intend to pay a final dividend of 0.80c per share on 5th July 2018 to shareholders on the register on 15th June 2018. This will bring the total dividend for the financial year 2017 to 1.40c per share.”
applegreen