Fuel and forecourt retailer Applegreen said today it plans to invest €1 billion over the next five years to expand its business, which currently serves 180 million customers a year in Ireland, the UK and the US.
This comes as the company reported a 9% increase in gross profits for last year.
It has almost 200 locations in the Irish market.
Applegreen said it will continue the roll out of its Braeburn coffee offer and its partnership with M&S Food across the Irish market.
It currently operates M&S at 19 of its locations in Ireland and said it plans to grow that number to over 60 sites.
“We also plan to expand our network of motorway and roadside service areas in Ireland and the UK, and to grow our EV charging networks in both countries,” it added.
Earlier this year, Applegreen opened a new €10m service area at Clondrinagh in Limerick and upgraded its Midway Service Area in Portlaoise with a €3m investment.
The company is also due to open a new motorway services area off the M3 in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath next year with an EV charging hub, a fuel forecourt, and four separate food options.
In the US, Applegreen currently operates more than 100 motorway service areas, and it believes there is significant scope to expand this part of its overall business.
It has 106 travel plazas in states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, and Indiana.
It noted that food is now the main element of Applegreen’s business in the US, where it operates restaurant and café brands such as Burger King, Shake Shack, Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Starbucks, Dunkin, Panera Bread and Panda Express.
Applegreen has invested €1 billion in the US in the decade since it bought its first two sites in New York’s Long Island in 2014 and is now one of the largest Irish employers in the US.
Meanwhile, in the UK, Applegreen is growing its Welcome Break business, which operates 58 sites, including 34 motorway service areas, and 31 hotels.
It is currently investing €66m in a new Welcome Break motorway services area on the M1 in Rotherham, which will have six food outlets, a WHSmith and a Waitrose convenience store, as well as fuel and EV charging options and a dedicated HGV driver facility.
Construction has also started on a new roadside services area at Hickling in Nottinghamshire and the company said that a new services area that opened on the A1 at Newark in Nottinghamshire 18 months ago is trading very well.
Applegreen’s gross profit increased by 9% to €972m last year, according to newly filed accounts for its parent company Causeway Consortium Holdings.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) – which is a key performance measure for the company – increased by almost 7% to just under €271m last year.
“Applegreen had a very positive performance in 2023 across all three of its markets,” Applegreen co-founder and group chief executive Joe Barrett said.
“As we continue to bring new sites on board, upgrade some of our existing locations, and expand our EV charging network we expect significant growth in the business in Ireland, the UK and the United States,” he added.
Applegreen said that revenue from its food operations and convenience store business increased by 11% during the year.
Total turnover at Applegreen, which employs 17,000 people at its 592 sites in Ireland, the UK and the US, declined by almost 6% to €3.9 billion due to a fall in fuel prices.
The Irish business generated sales of almost €1.1 billion last year, while Applegreen’s UK turnover was just over €2 billion, and US sales were worth €0.8 billion.
Applegreen recorded a loss before tax of just under €83m last year, which was marginally lower than 2022, due to the impact of depreciation and amortisation, financing costs, and €12m in non-recurring charges related to the opening of newly refurbished sites and the expansion of its EV business.
“We have delivered 40 brand new or refurbished travel plazas over the past two years that represent a step change in the services that we are offering for consumers,” Mr Barrett said.
“In every location, after we re-open, we are seeing a significant uplift in trading compared to the performance prior to the investment,” he added.