By Business & Finance 
The international sales group in oil and tech, DCC, saw a 14.4% rise in operating profit in the six months to the end of September.
The jump has been linked to the expansion of the company’s liquified petroleum gas (LPG) segment. The operating profit figure is at £122.5 million (€137.5 million), up from £107.1 million in the same period last year.
DCC has expanded its key energy business into new markets and sold its recycling and environmental unit to Exponent for £219 million.
Earlier this year, the company made its first venture outside of Europe in agreeing to buy Shell’s LPG business in Hong Kong and Macau for £120 million.
In October, DCC purchased Esso’s retail petrol station network in Norway and last week penned a deal to buy Retail West, a LPG company in the US, for $200 million (€171.6 million).
Before the operating profit figures were released on Monday evening, DCC’s market value had risen by almost 20% on the London Stock Exchange to £6.44 billion.
