Couche-Tard ‘Actively’ Pursues Acquisitions, Increases Number of Single-Site Deals

Global convenience retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard is “actively” pursuing multiple potential acquisitions across its three primary regions, Chief Executive Officer Alex Miller said Wednesday in a call discussing financial results for its fiscal 2026 third quarter.

“There’s a lot of deal flow, a lot of deal activity, and we are highly engaged in that,” Miller said in discussing the quarter ended Feb. 1.

Couche-Tard said it acquired 12 company-operated stores during the quarter, for a total of 26 company-operated sites since the beginning of fiscal 2026. Miller told analysts the company is “doing more” single-site transactions.

The company is strategic and “disciplined” in its approach, he added.

In recent years, after acquiring several businesses, it divested hundreds of stores that didn’t fit its business model. Couche-Tard has been building and buying larger stores to accommodate its increasing emphasis on food service.

During the quarter, it built 37 new stores and relocated or rebuilt eight stores, a total of 80 stores since fiscal 2026 began. As of Feb. 1, Couche-Tard had 58 stores under construction.

Same-store fuel volumes in Q3 fell 0.4% year to year in the U.S. and by 1.6% in Europe and other regions, while increasing 4.2% in Canada.

The company’s U.S. fuel business outperformed U.S. gasoline stations, which averaged a 4% year-to-year decline in same-store gallons over the same three months, according to OPIS DemandPro.

Couche-Tard reported higher fuel margins across its markets in Q3, including a 47.71ct/gal gross margin in the U.S., up 3.43cts year to year, 10.87cts/liter in Europe and other regions, up 1.58cts, and C15.82cts/liter in Canada, up C2.28cts.

During the quarter, the company said total merchandise and service revenues were $5.8 billion, a year-to-year increase of 8.7%. Same-store merchandise revenues rose 2.8% in the U.S., 0.4% in Europe and other regions and 0.3% in Canada. Consolidated same-store merchandise revenues increased 2.0%.

Q3 merchandise and service gross margins fell 0.1% year to year in the U.S. to 33.9% and 0.1% in Europe and other regions to 38.9%, while increasing 0.1% in Canada to 32.5%, the company said.

In the third quarter ended Feb. 1, Couche-Tard reported $757.2 million in net earnings, or $0.82 per share on a diluted basis, compared with $641.4 million a year earlier, or $0.68 per share on a diluted basis.

Reporting by Donna Harris, dharris@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com