Circle K Ireland Energy's pre-tax profits almost halved last year to €6.9 million.
New accounts from Circle K Energy Ireland Ltd show that pre-tax profits fell by 46 percent, while revenue fell by 27 percent from €1.72 billion to €1.25 billion in the 12 months to the end of April.
The company's main activity is the marketing and distribution of fuels and petroleum products, as Circle K reports its retail sales here as a separate business.
The pre-tax profit of EUR 6.9 million follows a pre-tax profit of EUR 12.7 million in the previous year.
The directors state that "lower selling prices for fuel and petroleum products reflected the fall in commodity market prices and resulted in lower revenue than the previous year".
The company's distribution costs also fell accordingly by 27 percent from 1.66 billion euros to 1.2 billion euros.
The company's gross profit of €39.8 million was 28 percent lower than the previous year's gross profit of €55.77 million, "resulting in the gross profit margin remaining reasonably stable in both years," the directors said.
The directors state that a transfer pricing policy is in place to ensure that sales of petroleum products between group companies are made at arm's length, which may have an impact on the company's operating profit year on year.
They state that as a result, operating profit fell by 28 percent from €15.34 million to €10.95 million and higher net financial expenses of €3.98 million contributed to the €6.9 million decline in pre-tax profit.
The company recorded an after-tax profit of 5.58 million euros, following a corporation tax charge of 1.3 million euros.
On the future development of the company, the directors state that the company is "well positioned to grow its business for the foreseeable future. The company will focus on growing organically."
The number of employees fell from 150 to 147, as personnel costs increased slightly from EUR 8.92 million to EUR 8.96 million.
Personnel costs include severance payments of € 283,000, which will be preceded by a payment under this heading of € 163,000 in the 2023 financial year.
Executive Board remuneration increased from € 1.29 million to € 1.92 million.
The profit includes non-cash depreciation and amortization of € 6.5 million.
At the end of April, the company had equity of 77.17 million euros, including 4.2 million euros in cash.
The Circle K brand sought to expand here last year, buying nine service stations and convenience stores from Pelco, the retail group run by Paul Fitzgerald and Lynda Fitzgerald.
Pelco reported sales of €59 million and a pre-tax profit of €1.43 million in 2023.
Last month, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) launched an extensive investigation into the planned purchase of Circle K.
If the deal is approved, the expansion would increase the total number of Circle K locations in Ireland to 419 and the number of stores from 168 to 177.
Circle K's ultimate parent company is Canada-based $ATD (-1,07 %) Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
Source: breakingnews.ie