The Circle K petrol station chain has opened its largest fast-charging station in Sweden to date. The charging park in Järna, southwest of Stockholm, offers 20 HPC charging points for electric cars and six more for electric trucks. Circle K also plans to open its first own location in Sweden dedicated exclusively to charging electric vehicles in the spring.

Circle K describes the new 30,000 square meter site in Järna as its flagship filling station. Due to its strategic location, the filling station chain sees great potential for the charging park.

The area for electric cars, which is covered and equipped with solar modules, offers ten Alpitronic Hyperchargers with an output of up to 400 kW each. Two CCS and one CHAdeMO connection are available per charging station. However, as only two connections can be used simultaneously, there are 20 fast-charging points. The charging points are set up according to a "drive-through" concept, but can only be accessed by vehicles to a limited extent.

The situation is different with the other three charging stations set up next to them, although they do not have a roof. The fast chargers, also supplied by Alpitronic, each offer a maximum output of up to 400 kW and two CCS charging options. These are also suitable for e-trucks. It is not clear from the press release whether they are exclusive.

According to Circle K, the new fast-charging location was designed to offer "a safe, efficient and smooth charging experience in combination with a spacious store". The wishes of customers are said to have been taken into account. In addition to the "drive-through" solution, where electric cars drive in and out in one direction, illuminated areas and clearly marked crosswalks were also on the wish list.

"We've thought of pretty much everything here," says Jeremy Knights, CEO of Circle K Sverige AB. So it's hardly surprising that the site also has a large store with food and drink. If you don't want to leave your car, you can also order your food and have it delivered to your vehicle. For everyone else, there is seating outside and inside.

While the location in Järna offers conventional fuel as well as electricity, the situation will be different at another location, which is also due to open in the spring: Circle K Gårda is to be the first location of the filling station chain where only electric vehicles can be charged.

$ATD (-1,07%)
#tankstelle
#marke
#couchetard
#eauto
#emobility

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

The Japanese Ito family, which owns the 7-Eleven subsidiary $8183 & I , wants to use the capital of US fund Apollo Global Management and the owner of Japanese competitor FamilyMart to prevent a possible takeover by Canadian conglomerate $ATD (-1,07%) Couche-Tard .

55 billion needed

Apollo Global Management has agreed to contribute 1.5 trillion yen (9.1 billion euros) to the deal, while Familymart's Itochu is expected to invest over one trillion yen (6 billion euros). The total amount needed for the acquisition is estimated at 9 trillion yen (55 billion euros) and will be backed by major Japanese banks, reports The Japan Times.

This strategic move is in response to an unsolicited takeover bid from Canada's Couche-Tard last year, which raised significant concerns at Seven & I. The Board of Directors is currently reviewing both offers and points out that many details still require further clarification. At the same time, Seven & I is working on a restructuring plan to separate its profitable convenience store business from its weaker retail segments.

Damage if the deal does not work out, if not other companies will be found.

Source: retaildetail.eu

Today, some Canadian stocks on my list have become a little cheaper.

Do you also have Canadian stocks on your radar?

$ATD (-1,07%)

$CSU (-0,46%)

$DOL (-0,51%)

$DEFI (-5,46%)

$TD (-0,23%)

$PNG (-6,28%)

New offer from 7-Eleven owner could derail Couche-Tard and include US IPO

Another hat could soon be thrown into the bidding cupboard. The Japanese Ito family, the founders of the 7-Eleven chain in the country, is set to launch a management buyout of Seven & i Holdings $3382 (+0,08%) worth 9 trillion yen (60 billion dollars). The offer would be against
an offer of 7.1 trillion yen (47 billion dollars) from Canadian company Alimentation Couche-Tard
$ATD (-1,07%) a multinational convenience store operator that owns rival Circle K in the US.

Background:

Seven & I
has long been under pressure from activist shareholders and rejected an initial offer from Couche-Tard in September on the grounds that the company undervalued its business and failed to address regulatory concerns. A higher offer was eventually made, but new efforts are being made to prevent the brand from falling into foreign hands. An offer from the founding Ito family would prevent the largest takeover in Japan and lead to Seven & I being split into three independent companies.

The first would raise more than one trillion yen (6.6 billion dollars) in cash via the IPO of the North American 7-Eleven businesses (as well as gas station subsidiaries Speedway and Sunoco). These businesses generated sales of 70.3 billion dollars in the last fiscal year, demonstrating the strength and reach of the company. Another planned unit would include 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan, while the latest division was announced back in October and would be created by spinning off Seven & I's non-core Japanese businesses such as supermarkets, specialty stores and retail outlets.

Announcements of dividends/distributions today

AIRPORTS OF THAILAND PCL
$AOT-F (-0,8%) TH0765010Z16 - 0.79 THB - 0.0219 EUR

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD INC
$ATD (-1,07%) CA01626P1484 - 0.195 CAD - 0.1319 EUR

FUTUREFUEL CORP
$FF (-1,09%) US36116M1062 - 0.06 USD - 0.057 EUR

KIMBERLY-CLARK DE MEXICO SAB DE CV
$KIMBERA (-0,66%) MXP606941179 - 0.465 -MXN 0.0217 EUR

GLADSTONE CAPITAL CORPORATION
$GLAD (-1,08%) US3765358789 - 0.4 USD - 0.3806 EUR

OLD DOMINION FREIGHT LINE INC
$ODFL (-8,18%) US6795801009 - 0.26 USD - 0.2474 EUR

OLD POINT FINANCIAL CORPORATION
$OPOF US6801941070 - 0.14 USD - 0.1332 EUR

PACIFIC TEXTILES HOLDINGS LTD
$1382 (+3,6%) KYG686121032 - 0.07 HKD - 0.0085 EUR

I can add to this list if anyone else has an interesting company to add.

Alimentation Couche-Tard $ATD (-1,07%) is confident despite a challenging second quarter

Service station operator ATD remains confident in its global network and long-term strategic growth plan, even though parts of its convenience and service station business faced challenges in the second quarter.

Total sales of goods and services increased by 6.6% year-on-year to 4.4 billion US dollars (4.2 billion euros) in the period, while comparable store sales fell by 1.6% in the US, 1.5% in Europe and other regions and 2.3% in Canada.

Alimentation Couche-Tard attributed this decline to the curtailment of spending on non-essential consumer goods as low-income consumers faced difficult economic conditions and the continued decline of the cigarette industry.

Net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 13.5% year-on-year to 708.8 million US dollars (674.6 million euros) in the second quarter. In the same period of the previous year, it amounted to 819.2 million US dollars (779.6 million euros).

Quarterly highlights

Sales in the second quarter increased by 6.0% year-on-year to 17.4 billion US dollars (16.6 billion euros), mainly due to the contribution from acquisitions and higher sales in fuel trading.

However, this effect was partially offset by a lower average selling price for road transportation fuels as well as weaker fuel demand and traffic volumes as low-income consumers were affected by the difficult economic conditions.

Gross profit for the quarter amounted to $3.2 billion (€3.05 billion), an increase of 7.3% year-on-year, while adjusted EBITDA increased by $36.1 million (€34.4 million), or 2.4% year-on-year, to $1.5 billion (€1.4 billion).

Filipe Da Silva, Chief Financial Officer of Alimentation Couche-Tard, said: "Throughout the second quarter, we saw sequential monthly improvements, particularly in same-store merchandise sales in the United States, and we are encouraged by this positive momentum as we enter the third quarter."

"Our strategic focus on operational excellence and cost management resulted in a modest 2.3% increase in normalized costs. This enabled us to outperform an environment of easing inflation. As we continue to pursue growth opportunities, our strong balance sheet and disciplined capital deployment will support our proven long-term goal of creating value for our shareholders."

Source: esmmagazine.com

Depot review November 2024 - The depot is growing despite larger withdrawals 🚀

Before I continue with the second part of my investment story, I would first like to share my portfolio review for November.

The second half of November was almost quiet compared to what happened at the beginning of November. Trump was elected, triggering a veritable run on the stock markets. Germany was finally freed from the traffic lights and there were also some exciting topics in the private sphere. I sold a few shares back in October to generate the equity I needed to start building a house. This continued a little further in November.

Overall, my savings rate will also (have to) be lower over the next few months. Less into the portfolio and more into the "buffer account" for building the house. Nevertheless, around €500 per month will continue to be invested and this will be pushed up again as quickly as possible.

After selling 6 shares and an ETF in October, I sold parts of my MSCI World ETF for around €13,000.

But now it's finally time to look at the hard figures:

Monthly view:

In total, November was +6,3%. This corresponds to price gains of ~20.000€.

The MSCI World (benchmark) was +7.3% and the S&P500 +5.1%

Winners & losers:

A look at the winners and losers is particularly exciting this month:

On the winning side with a total of almost €5,000 in price gains, my crypto investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum. This is followed by the long runner NVIDIA with price gains of just under €2,000. 4th and 5th place then goes to the cybersecurity sector with Palo Alto Networks and Crowdstrike.

On the loser side looks very quiet this month. Amgen is still the worst performer with losses of ~€600 due to a weight loss drug that failed to fully meet Wall Street's hopes. This is followed by Sartorius with share price losses of €200. Places 3-5 are then occupied by share price losses of less than €100. All in all, a month with almost no losers.

The performance-neutral movements in October amounted to just under € -6,000. Parts have already been removed here for private topics.

current year:

My performance in the current year is +29,9% and thus above my benchmark, the MSCI World with 26.9%.

In total, my portfolio currently stands at ~345.000€. This corresponds to an absolute growth of ~€93,000 in the current year 2023. ~72.000€ of this comes from price gains, ~3.300€ from dividends / interest and ~16.000€ from additional investments.

Dividend:

• Dividends in November were 21% above the previous year at ~€160
• Procter & Gamble is in the lead with a (gross) dividend of €50 every 3 months.
• In the current year, the dividends after 11 months are +25% over the first 11 months of 2023 at ~2.500€

Buying & selling:

• I bought in November for significantly reduced ~700€
• As always, my savings plans were executed:
• Blue ChipsProcter & Gamble $PG (+2,23%) TSMC $TSM (-0,58%) S&P Global $SPGI (-0,29%) Alphabet $GOOGL (-2,28%) Johnson & Johnson $JNJ (+2,12%) Amgen $AMGN (+3,04%) Herhey $HSY (+4,29%) Alimentation Couche-Tard $ATD (-1,07%) Caterpillar $CAT (-2,26%)
• 
  GrowthBechtle $BC8 (-0,42%)
• 
  ETFsMSCI World $XDWD (-0,98%) Nikkei 225 $XDJP (+0,1%) and the WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth $GGRP (-0,99%)
• 
  CryptoBitcoin $BTC (+0,22%) and Ethereum $ETH (+0,83%)
• 
  Sales as mentioned at the beginning, there was a larger part of my MSCI World holdings in November

Target 2024 & outlook 2025:

My goal for this year is to reach €300,000 in my portfolio. Due to the extremely positive market performance in the current year, my portfolio already stands at ~€345,000 at the end of November.

As is well known, one should not praise the day before the evening, but I am optimistic that my portfolio will not fall so far in December that I will not reach my target.

What will happen in 2025? The logical goal would of course be to reach €400,000. However, due to the upcoming house construction, part of the assets will be invested in the house construction. If I include the property in my statement of assets, the target of €400,000 would of course not change. However, as I am tracking my liquid assets here, I will probably refrain from doing so.

Therefore, my year-end target for 2025 will probably be closer to the final balance for 2024. So around €350,000 at the end of 2025.

How are things looking for you? Have you already thought about your plans for 2025?

#dividends

#dividende

#rückblick

#depotupdate

#aktie

#stocks

#etfs

#crypto

#personalstrategy

$ATD (-1,07%)

Couche-Tard's 7-Eleven overlaps face skeptical scrutiny from US FTC

Circle K operator Alimentation Couche-Tard is likely to face tough antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. if it proceeds with its $47.2 billion takeover bid for 7-Eleven owner Seven & I Holdings.

The companies are in direct competition in thousands of locations across the United States. Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that more than 45 percent of Circle K's are within three miles of a 7-Eleven or comparable store.

Jennifer Rie, an antitrust analyst at Bloomberg Industries, said there is a very high likelihood that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission could categorize the level of concentration as problematic.

The data "suggests that there will be a lot of overlap that will need to be closely scrutinized by the FTC," she said. "Divestitures will likely be required."

Canada-based Couche-Tard - which operates more than 6,700 Circle K stores in the US - is seeking to acquire the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven and Speedway, which has about 13,300 stores in the US. The deal would unite the No. 1 and No. 2 convenience store chains in the US, according to the industry magazine CSP, which publishes an annual ranking.

Alain Bouchard, founder and chief executive of Couche-Tard, said the company was working on solutions to any antitrust issues.

"We have of course read comments about possible obstacles that we could face in North America from the US FTC and we have an answer to that," Bouchard said in an interview. "In the 74 acquisitions we've made, we've had many discussions with the FTC and have always been able to find a good solution."

Seven and I declined to comment.

After its initial offer was rejected, Couche-Tard raised its bid and proposed $18.19 per share, or 7 trillion yen ($47.2 billion), last month, Bloomberg reported. A deal between the two companies would create a global convenience store giant with more than 100,000 stores worldwide and 20,000 in the US.

According to Bloomberg's analysis, there were 8,077 instances in which one or more Circle K stores were within 3.2 kilometers of at least one 7-Eleven or related store. To eliminate these overlaps, the merged company might have to divest up to 2,463 stores, or 12.31% of the outlets that would be owned by the merged company.

The FTC, headed by Lina Khan, views large mergers with skepticism. The agency has filed a lawsuit to prevent Kroger from acquiring Albertsons - which would be the largest grocery deal ever - and has been scrutinizing potential deals in both the grocery and oil markets because of concerns about persistent inflation.

In merger reviews, antitrust regulators often look at the locations of companies, assuming that nearby stores compete with each other but that a merged company could close one, limiting consumer choice. Authorities often try to get companies to sell locations or, if too many stores would have to be divested, they try to prevent a deal altogether.

California would be the hardest hit by a potential deal. There, 927 7-Eleven or related stores are located near Circle K stores, according to Bloomberg's analysis. In Texas and Florida, more than 500 Circle K stores would be affected.

Both Couche-Tard and 7-Eleven were involved in previous mergers in which the FTC required divestitures that focused primarily on fuel retailing, Rie said. In those deals, the FTC considered stores within a 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) radius. When 7-Eleven acquired Sunoco's retail stores in 2018 and later Speedway in 2021, the agency required the companies to sell 76 and nearly 300 stores, respectively, to address concerns about the impact on retail gas networks.

Couche-Tard's purchase of Holiday Companies in 2018 also required divestitures. Both Couche-Tard and 7-Eleven were later fined by the FTC for not fully complying with the terms of these settlements - an indication that the agency continued to monitor both companies after these deals.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

#seven-eleven

#atd

#couche-tard

#takeovers

When would you $ATD (-1,07%) in?

I think between 63 and 68 $ very interesting