Compass breaks through billion pound profit barrier

23rd Nov 2011 07:20

Contract caterer Compass saw its underlying profits before tax burst through the billion pounds barrier for the full year ended 30 September. The firm achieved a 9.4% leap in revenue from £14.47bn to £15.83bn, which led to a 10.6% increase in underlying profit from £922m to £1.02bn (reported profit before tax: £958m from £913m).Earnings per share beat expectations of 38.7p to rise to 39p from 35.7p last year, while the dividend per share rose 10.3% from 17.5p to 19.3p. The operating margin was flat at 6.9%, held back by the £15m negative profit impact from the Japanese tsunami. Excluding this, the underlying margin improved by 20 basis points. Richard Cousins, chief executive, said: "Compass has delivered another strong performance this year. Including the impact of acquisitions, revenue has increased by almost 10% and we have delivered organic revenue growth of over 5%.The final dividend was raised by 10% to 19.3p per share. The firm also revealed a £500m share buy back over the next 12 months.NR