Forecourt retailer Applegreen has reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €28.9m for 2015 - a 26% rise on the previous year.

In its first year as a listed company its gross profit increased by 30%, growing to €125.9m.

Revenues increased by 15% to €1.08bn and like-for-like sales were 8.9% higher as it continued to open new outlets.

When the company floated on the stock exchange last year it raised €66.3m in primary capital.

CEO Bob Etchingham commented on the results: "This performance was driven by new site openings in both the latter part of 2014 and early 2015 as well as the increased contribution from food driven by our upgrade and rebranding programme.

"We continued to expand our business in the year adding five Service Area sites and seven petrol filling stations in the Republic of Ireland, as well as expanding our network of dealer sites by 25."

The company employs close to 3,000 across Ireland, the UK, and the US.