Montreal-based Alimentation Couche-Tard (CA:ATD, US:ANCTF) has recently made minor cuts to its non-frontline staff in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, C-Store Dive reported on June 1.

Investors pushed the ATD stock price up more than 3.1% on Thursday and Friday after the report.

According to the trade publication, Couche-Tard made the cuts in an effort to control costs in these uncertain economic times. The company remains laser-focused on controlling its operating expenses in all economic environments.

Analysts expect the company to report diluted earnings of 47 US cents for the April-end fourth-quarter 2023 on revenue of US$15.84 billion, according to a survey by S&P Capital IQ. That report is expected on June 27. BMO Capital analyst Tamy Chen last week reiterated their ‘buy’ rating on the shares, with a $70 12-month price target. ACT stock closed Toronto trading on Friday at $67.67.

Couche-Tard is known as a consolidator of smaller convenience store chains. Most recently, it announced that it would acquire 112 convenience store and gas station locations operating under the MAPCO brand in the Southeast region of the U.S. No terms were disclosed.

Going Big in Europe

However, it’s also not afraid to take the occasional big swing, as it did in March, acquiring 2,193 gas stations and convenience stores from Total Energies (US:TTE), the French energy giant, for US$3.3 billion.

A majority of the retail sites are in Germany (54%), with Belgium and the Netherlands accounting for the rest. Approximately 68% of the locations are company-owned, with the balance owned by dealers.

“We see this as a strong geographical fit with our existing European network, which will allow us to grow together in some of Europe’s strongest economies and move forward in our vision to become the world’s preferred destination for convenience and mobility,” said Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard.

With the European acquisition, its Europe and Other Regions segment grew by nearly 75%, from 3,086 at the end of January, to 5,300, providing a more balanced global operation.

Another significant factor in the deal was the 975 car washes that came with the acquisition.

Dirty Cars Make Good Business

In December 2022, the company announced the acquisition of True Blue Car Wash for US$395 million. True Blue operates 65 subscription-based car washes in several U.S. states, including Texas, under the Clean Freak and Rainstorm brands.

Couche-Tard launched its own subscription-based car wash service in Quebec in October 2021. The Total Energies purchase significantly expands the company’s car wash network worldwide.

Despite being acquisition-driven, it can’t be successful without holding the line on costs. They can very quickly spiral out of control when you’re growing your store network as fast as Couche-Tard is. The company started with one location in 1980. After completing the Total Energies acquisition, it will have 16,500, a compound annual growth rate of 25%.

The latest cuts mentioned earlier come at the same time as small cuts announced last October. It eliminated approximately 90 accounting positions in that situation because it moved some accounting processes to a third-party administrator such as Automatic Data Processing (US:ADP) or Paychex (US:PAYX).

While the timing of both sets of cuts isn’t a great visual, if you’re a Couche-Tard shareholder, you’ve got to be happy that it continues to emphasize sound financial business practices.

These moves should not be confused with the downsizing that’s become commonplace in the tech and banking sectors over the past 18 months. All seems well at Couche-Tard.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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