4th Feb 2016 07:32
LONDON (Alliance News) - Compass Group PLC Thursday said its outlook for 2016 remains positive after reporting a rise in revenue during the first quarter of the financial year.
The catering and support services business said organic revenue grew 5.9% year-on-year in its financial first quarter ended December 31, with like-for-like revenue also increasing thanks to modest pricing and some volume improvement.
"We continue to drive operating efficiencies around the business, which we are partly reinvesting in the growth opportunities we see across the group," said Compass.
"Our outlook for 2016 remains positive. Growth in North America is strong, Europe is improving, and we are managing the challenges in the Rest of World region. We continue to focus on driving efficiencies throughout the business and our margin expectations are unchanged," the company added.
Organic revenue from North America increased 7.9% in the first quarter, whilst organic revenue from Europe grew by 3.6% from a year earlier.
"New business wins have been strong, particularly in the UK and the Mediterranean countries, retention is good and like for like revenues have stabilised," Compass said.
Organic revenue from the rest of the world was up 3.6% in the first quarter, as robust growth in Latin America was partly offset by continuing weakness in Compass's commodity-related business and a challenging environment in some emerging markets.
Currency movements had a negative impact on revenue and profits in the quarter compared to a year ago, hurting revenue by GBP116.0 million and profit by GBP7.0 million.
However, Compass said that if current spot rates persist for the rest of the financial year, then this will have a positive GBP253.0 million impact on revenue and a positive GBP24.0 million impact on operating profit.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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