By Maitane Sardon
Shares in Sodexo fell after the French food-catering company trimmed its full-year profitability guidance amid slower growth in North America.
Shares were 13% lower at 63.15 euros in early European trade Thursday.
Sodexo said it expects organic revenue to increase between 3% and 4% in fiscal 2025, compared with the 5.5% to 6.5% it was initially expecting.
The company said it now sees the underlying operating profit margin increasing by 10 to 20 basis points, down from a previously expected rise of 30 to 40 basis points.
"In North America, the continued soft trend in volumes in education, [the] slower-than-expected net new ramp-up in healthcare have impacted our ability to meet initial expectations," Sodexo Chief Executive Sophie Bellon said.
Sodexo posted revenue of 12.47 billion euros ($13.60 billion) for the first half of the year ended Aug. 31, up 3.1% on year. Underlying operating profit came to 651 million euros, compared with 612 million euros the year prior.
Net profit in the first half was 434 million euros, up from 496 million euros.
Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2025 04:50 ET (08:50 GMT)
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