By Business & Finance 
Fuel and convenience retailer Topaz has announced operating profits of €13.9m for the 12 months to March 2014, a 9% increase on the previous year.
The company, which has already announced two new store openings this month – at Ballacolla in Co. Laois and Clonshaugh, Co. Dublin, which created nearly 200 jobs – has also announced plans to invest €20m across it’s nationwide network throughout 2015. This investment will include a further extension of the Topaz and ReStore brands across the Esso network, which the company purchased last year.
Speaking about these latest results, Emmet O’Neill, chief executive said: “2014 was a transformative year for the Topaz business.
“We successfully concluded a major restructuring of the group balance sheet which saw a significant investment by shareholders of €128.5m and a corresponding reduction in group borrowings of over €120m, which reduced the company debt by about 85pc.
“This has freed up the resources we need to make a really substantial investment in the business in Ireland and to ensure that we regain our leadership position in the sector here.”
