Tags
APGN:ID, APGN:LN, Applegreen plc, Bob Etchingham, convenience store, fresh food, gas stations, Irish value investing, Joe Barrett, maintenance free cash flow, owner-operators, petrol forecourt retailing, petrol stations, retail float, retail growth story, Topaz Energy
And yes, with the blog turning six this year & a tsunami of retail apocalypse headlines recently, it’s ironic I’m only now posting my first retail investment thesis ever! But rest assured, this isn’t some soggy chewed-up cigar butt. Nor some story stock priced & pitched for perfection. Though, almost inevitably, the retail sector only seems to come in those two flavours nowadays… Whereas Applegreen plc (APGN:ID, APGN:LN) is that rarest of beasts:
A bona fide long-term retail growth story trading for a value price.
And since it’s a retailer, first let’s focus on Applegreen’s story – its history, its people, its offering, its prospects – we’ll home in on the numbers later. If you’re a story person, I hope you enjoy the videos along the way. As for the numbers people…I definitely encourage you to circle back & watch ’em later! Let’s begin:
Applegreen is a major Irish petrol forecourt* retailer, with a significant & growing presence in the UK, and an emerging footprint in the US Northeast. [*As the Irish would say, a fillin’ station. To translate: A gas station, gasoline stand, gasbar, petrol station, petrol garage, petrol pump, service station, servo, etc….selling petrol, gas, or gasoline (& diesel)]. Bob Etchingham (CEO) founded the business as (Petrogas) in 1992, after working at Esso for 10 years, and was joined a year later by Joe Barrett (COO) (ex-Tesco & John West Foods). They’ve been described as ‘chalk & cheese’, and it’s obvious they play to their respective strengths & personalities in their roles. Growth was gradual at first, but from the outset management focused on developing its retail proposition & establishing a quality food offering. Which led to the launch of the Applegreen brand in 2005, heralding a distinctive retail-led proposition for customers built on a ‘Low Fuel Prices, Always’ price promise, ‘Better Value Always’ convenience shopping, and high quality own brand/international food & beverage offerings.
Wexboy 