Sales rose by 14.4% in 2023, driven by very strong growth in sales and margins in the fuel segment. Net income rose by 15.2%.

Alimentation Couche-Tard focuses on the two most lucrative retail segments: convenience stores and service stations, often with the two concepts intertwined.

The group is known for its elite management, combining a series of remarkably well-integrated acquisitions with exponentially growing returns of capital to shareholders - mainly through share buy-backs. It is also perfectly placed to capitalize on the arrival of electric vehicles.

Over the past decade, Alimentation Couche-Tard has bought up the distribution networks of the major energy companies - Statoil, Exxon, Philips 66, Shell, Esso, etc. - and is continuing to do so. In 2023, the Canadian company acquired the TotalEnergies service station network in Germany and the Benelux countries.

Already inimitable in North America, its territorial coverage is expanding in Europe. It's also worth noting that a large proportion of convenience store sales are in tobacco and spirits: regulated, this highly lucrative business remains well protected from competition from new entrants.

The Group is currently trading at a valuation multiple right on its historical average. This level was deemed attractive enough by the founders - who still own a fifth of the capital - to devote $2.3 billion to share buybacks over the past year. This too is a record.

For forward-looking investors, any downturn in the share price should present an excellent entry opportunity.