DCC reported an adjusted operating profit of £682.8m (€794.1m) for the year ended March 31. This was up 4.1pc from its previous financial year.

The group said strong organic growth in DCC Energy was offset by more challenging trading in its healthcare and technology divisions, while acquisitions completed in the current and previous year also contributed to growth.

DCC said that it had committed around £490m to acquisitions in the year to March 31.

Revenue declined by 10.6pc to £19.9bn across the year.

This fall was attributed to the reduced wholesale cost of energy, with sales in the group’s energy division declining 11.8pc to £14.2bn.

DCC supplies liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Ireland under the FloGas brand and also owns the fuel supplier Certa.

Its energy business operates across Europe and in 2018 the company entered the US LPG market.

This division has also announced the acquisition of Next Energy which will boost its energy transition capability in the UK domestic sector.

DCC Healthcare saw sales rise 4.6pc to £859.4m across the year following the acquisition of Medi-Globe which was completed last September.

Medi-Globe develops, manufactures and distributes single-use devices for endoscopy in both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Revenue at DCC Technology fell 9.3pc to £4.8bn as a result of a weaker market for consumer technology.

The group proposed a 5pc increase in total dividend for the year, DCC’s 30th consecutive year of dividend growth.

The firm expects further profit growth in its current financial year.

“We are pleased to announce that we delivered a year of growth, development and strategic progress in our 30th year as a public company. The very strong growth delivered by DCC Energy was the highlight of the year, and it is also encouraging that DCC Healthcare returned to organic growth in the second half of the year,” chief executive Donal Murphy said.

The group currently operates in 22 countries across the energy, healthcare and technology sectors, employing over 16,000 people.