Maxol revealed it has spent €30m on forecourt development this year as McMullan Bros, the family owned company which owns the Irish forecourt group, reported pre-tax profits of €11.1m for 2015, on revenue of €569.8m.

The profit figure was more than triple the €3.1m McMullan Bros reported in 2014, but the 2014 figure had been hit by a €4.8m exceptional charge related to the closure of a defined benefit pension scheme in Northern Ireland. The 2015 profit figure benefited from an exceptional €3m gain on the sale of an asset.

Maxol chief executive Brian Donaldson told the Belfast Telegraph the underlying performance in 2015 had been “very strong”, and that this had continued in 2016. He expects the group to achieve close to a double-digit increase in pre-tax profits this year, despite the fall in sterling, which has a negative effect on profits.

Irish rival Applegreen floated last year, raising €92m to expand its business in Ireland, the UK and US, but Donaldson said: “We don’t have anything on the cards in terms of an IPO (Initial Public Offering).

“We are a well-funded, privately-owned business, and we have our finance in place to support our growth plans over the next three to five years.”

There is a total of 234 Maxol stations across the island of Ireland, with around 100 directly-owned stations in Northern Ireland. It also has 10 unmanned service stations.

The company recently announced its largest development in Northern Ireland, a £3.75m service station at Tannaghmore, County Antrim, on the A26 between Antrim and Ballymena

In 2015, it opened a flagship €5m forecourt off the M3 in Mulhuddart in Dublin, which is the single biggest development undertaken by the group. Donaldson said the group has spent about €30m on forecourt development this year, compared to €22m in both 2015 and 2014.