The logo of French food services and facilities management group Sodexo is seen at the company headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, November 30, 2018. REUTERS
April 10 (Reuters) – French food caterer Sodexo cut its annual sales and profitability targets on Friday, citing execution challenges and its management’s review of contracts and assets.
The group sees organic revenue growth of between 0.5% and 1% this year, down from the previously expected 1.5% to 2.5%. It expects its underlying operating margin to be clearly lower at between 3.2% and 3.4%, having earlier guided for a slight decline from last year’s 4.7%.
“We have undeniably underperformed the market and our main competitors,” CEO Thierry Delaporte, who replaced, Sophie Bellon in November, said in a press release.
On a reported basis, Sodexo’s revenue fell 3.7% to 12.02 billion euros ($14.05 billion) in the first half of its 2026 financial year, weighed down by the effects of converting U.S. dollars into euros. Analysts polled by Sodexo were expecting slightly higher revenue of 12.08 billion euros.
Organic growth, which excludes currency exchange effects and contributions from bought and sold assets, met analyst expectations at 1.7% and was supported by higher pricing, the group said.
Sodexo said in October that pricing would be the main driver of organic growth in 2026, after it saw a 10.5% drop in revenue from new contract signings in the previous fiscal year.
Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak
