A senior figure at HS2 has been poached by the billionaire Issa brothers as they pledge a 'laser-focus' on helping their staff and customers through the cost of living crisis.
HS2 chief financial officer Michael Bradley has been appointed as CFO of EG Group, replacing Paul Altschwager. The new hire comes as the business empire, which includes Euro Garages, Cooplands and Leon, reported its latest set of financial results.
The Issa's, who got their start with a petrol station in Bury, made EG Group into a national success. They would later go on to buy Asda in a huge deal worth nearly £7bn.
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The accounts show the group's total revenue increased by almost 25% during the first half of 2022 from $12.2bn to $15.2bn, on a reported basis. However, its group EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) has decreased from $645m to $625m over the same period.
On a like-for-like basis, the group's total revenue increased by 21% to $14.7bn while its group EBITDA fell by 5.5% to $602m.
For its second quarter, the three months to the end of June, EG Group's total revenue rose by almost 24% to $8.3bn but its group EBITDA fell by 6.5% to $355m.
On a like-for-like basis, its total revenue for the quarter increased by 18.4% to $7.9bn but its group EBITDA dropped by 11.7% to $334m. The group's net debt has also widened between March and June 2022 from $9.3bn to $9.4bn.
Zuber Issa, who runs the Blackburn-headquartered business alongside his brother Mohsin, said: "Despite a backdrop of challenging market conditions, we continued to perform resiliently in the second quarter of the year, supported by our geographically diverse portfolio and complementary foodservice, grocery and merchandise, and fuel operations.
"The cost-of-living squeeze remains front of mind for all of us, and the group is laser-focused on supporting our employees and helping customers with value for money at this time.
"EG’s robust performance over the quarter has demonstrated our adaptability, and while the economic outlook remains uncertain, we look forward to the second half of the year confident in our ability to outperform the wider market.
"Alongside acting as a responsible global convenience retailer, we recognise our role in contributing to a more sustainable future. We are pleased to be trialling our own-branded ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers in the UK and plan to introduce them to additional locations by the end of this year.
"This investment further supplements our existing network of approximately 250 electric charging points across 98 sites in the UK and Ireland, Germany and France. We also continue to explore the delivery of other low carbon fuels alongside our planned EV roll-out.
"Finally, we have announced today that Michael Bradley has been appointed as Group CFO, replacing Paul Altschwager who is stepping down. I would like to thank Paul for his contribution and look forward to working with Michael who has broad expertise and experience across various business sectors."
EG Group was founded in 2001 and currently employs more than 50,000 colleagues working in 6,660 sites across the UK&I, Europe, USA and Australia.
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