Catering giant Compass Group (LON:CPG) saw revenue grow modestly in the final quarter of the year, with the pound’s devaluation having a largely positive effect on trading.
Organic revenue for the first three months to 31 December 2016 grew by 2.8 percent, in line with the group’s expectations. Organic revenue in North America increased by 7 percent, with revenue in the rest of the world suffering a 6.5 percent decline after a challenging environment in Brazil.
Compass, which is the sixth-largest publicly traded employer in the world and offers large scale catering services to oil rigs, mining camps and company canteens, benefitted from earning most of its revenue outside the UK. The pound’s devaluation had a positive impact to the tune of £924 million in revenue and £74 million in profit.
In a statement, the Compass said:
“Our outlook for 2017 remains positive and unchanged. Growth in North America is strong, and both Europe and Rest of World are performing as expected with growth weighted to the second half.”
“If current spot rates were to continue for the remainder of the year, foreign exchange translation would positively impact 2016 revenue by £2.3 billion and operating profit by £186 million,” Compass continued.
Compass shares have lost nearly 5 percent over the last three months, but are currently trading up 2.33 percent at 1428,10 (0933GMT).
The group added that it expected to meet forecasts for the full year.