Sodexo: Fiscal 2018 annual results in line with revised guidance

At the Board of Directors meeting held on November 6, 2018 and chaired by Sophie Bellon, the Board closed the Consolidated and Company accounts for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2018.

  • Organic revenue growth of 2% excluding the 53rd week, and Underlying operating margin of 5.7%, excluding currency impact, or 5.5%, as published.
  • Exceptionally strong free cashflow.
  • Significant acceleration in Q4 sales growth in Benefits & Rewards.
  • Education net new business neutral in Fiscal 2018, improved signings in North American Health Care in the last quarter.
  • Underlying net profit -8.6% excluding currency effect, -14.1% as published.
  • Proposed dividend of 2.75 euro, stable on previous year.
  • Fiscal 2019 guidance: organic growth between 2% and 3%, underlying operating margin between 5.5% and 5.7% at constant exchange rates.
"The results for Fiscal 2018 are in line with what we signposted during the trading update in March."

"This has been a challenging year for Sodexo, but we know what went wrong, and we know what we need to do to fix it. Healthcare and Education in North America continue to drag on our performance, and the turnaround is going to take some time. Vigorous action plans are being deployed across the organization by the new Executive Committee to address our execution issues. We are laser-focused on sales and retention, discipline and accountability.

I am convinced that we are on the right path to enhance productivity, giving us the means to reinvest in accelerating growth, which is our absolute priority today. My ambition is to get growth at Sodexo back up to best-in-class, and I’m confident we will get there."

Denis MachuelSodexo CEO

To read the full version, please download the press release:

Conference call

Sodexo will hold a conference call (in English) today at 9:00 a.m. (Paris time), 8:00 a.m. (London time) to comment on its results for Fiscal 2018. Those who wish to connect from the UK may dial +44 330 336 9128 or from France + 33 1 76 77 22 74, or from the USA +1 646-828-8143, followed by the passcode 3328722.

The press release, presentation and webcast will be available on the Group website www.sodexo.com in both the "Latest News" section and the "Finance - Financial Results" section.