Catom Annual Report 2019 EN

the number of OK stations continued, thanks to, inter alia, the acquisition of a number of petrol stations and the renovation and rebranding of a number of stations acquired earlier. Following on from this, successful building work on the internal organisation is ongoing in order to control the constantly growing Retail operation from the head office. On balance, the volume of motor fuels sold by our retail operation increased by 13.97% Research During the financial year no work was done in the area of research and develop- ment, which has led to capitalisation.

Reselling In the reselling division – resale of fuels and lubricants by OK Oliecentrale BV and OK Marine B.V. – the volume of motor fuels increased by 4.9%. The volume of lubricants sold dropped by 2.61%, particularly due to an exceptionally large one-off order in 2017. In a slightly declining reselling market, Catom has succeeded in enhancing its market leadership position. In addition to the takeover of two small oil traders on the land, Catom also acquired one oil trader on water, specialising in lubricants, during the year under review. As a consequence, also thanks to its efficient and safety-conscious operations, Catom has an excellent starting position in this market, which shows a growing concentration trend. Retail Retail again experienced significant developments in 2019. The expansion of

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