(Reuters) – Sodexo SA said on Thursday it expects its second-half revenue to expand after the French catering and food services group reported a large beat on its first-half profit margin.
The Paris-based company forecast an organic growth ranging between 10% and 15% for the six-month period through August 2021, seeing rapid recovery once vaccination rollouts are fully deployed.
But, Sodexo said it will remain cautious in view of a resurgence in coronavirus infections and flagged the continuous volatility in the short-term, particularly in Europe, and expected little improvement in quarter-on-quarter trends throughout its fiscal year.
For the six months ended February, Sodexo posted an underlying operating profit margin of 3.1%, beating its own target of at least 2.5%, on revenue of 8.60 billion euros ($10.08 billion).
($1 = 0.8530 euros)
(Reporting by Juliette Portala; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
