DCC, the parent company of Certas Energy, has reported increased sales and profits for the six months ended 30 September 2017.

The group’s oil, retail and LPG businesses increased revenue to £1.6bn, up 16.4% on the same period a year ago, and the group’s adjusted operating profit on continuing activities increased by 14.4% (up 9.7% on a constant currency basis) to £122.5m.

The group said it continues to be very active from a development perspective. Recently, DCC Retail & Oil completed the acquisition of Esso Retail Norway, and DCC LPG remains on schedule to complete the acquisition of Shell Hong Kong & Macau before the end of the financial year.

In addition, on November 7 DCC LPG announced its agreement to acquire Retail West from NGL Energy Partners, for £152m. This will be DCC LPG’s first step into the US LPG market and is DCC’s first substantial acquisition in North America.

Commenting on the results, Donal Murphy, chief executive, said: “I am pleased to report that the first half of the year has been another very active and successful period for DCC. The business has performed strongly, with each of our divisions recording good growth, albeit in the seasonally less significant first half of the year.”

He said the recent completion of the acquisition of Esso Retail Norway demonstrated the continuing opportunity for DCC to redeploy the organic cash flow of the business into acquisition opportunities.

He added: “The recent announcement of the acquisition of Retail West marks another important milestone for the group and will provide DCC with a substantial, high-quality, LPG footprint in the very large North American LPG market.

“The group continues to have the ambition and capacity for further development and, importantly, as DCC increases in scale and geographic reach, also has the opportunity to build substantial market positions in its chosen sectors. The group reiterates its belief that the year ending 31 March 2018 will be another year of profit growth and development.”