Sodexo announces solid H1 Fiscal 2024 results

Apr. 19, 2024
PR - H1 Fiscal 2024 results

Organic Revenue growth +8.5%
Underlying operating profit +16.9% at constant currencies, margin up +40 bps
Fiscal 2024 guidance:
- Organic growth now expected at the top of the +6% to +8% range
- Underlying operating profit margin improvement confirmed at +30 to +40 bps, at
  constant currencies

At the Board of Directors meeting held on April 18, 2024, chaired by Sophie Bellon, the Board closed the Consolidated accounts for the First half Fiscal 2024 ended February 29, 2024.

First half Fiscal 2024 key figures

For more detail on the Group Net Profit including discontinued operations, please refer to section 1.2.6 of the Financial Report.

The spin-off of Pluxee has been successfully completed. Sodexo is now a pure-player in Food and Facilities Management services!

We are making progress in transforming our Food services, developing our branded offers, boosting our convenience activity and enhancing our purchasing, particularly in North America. Our organization has been considerably simplified and streamlined: we are gaining in agility.

The first half performance is solid. Organic growth is robust and the margin is up +40bps. Net new business momentum is also solid with a further improvement in retention.

We are progressing towards our ambition to be the world leader in sustainable food and valued experiences. I would like to thank all our teams, who have worked so hard to execute the spin-off of Pluxee while delivering a solid operational performance!

Sophie BellonSodexo Chairwoman and CEO

Solid set of First half Fiscal 2024 Results

First half Fiscal 2024 consolidated revenues were at 12.1 billion euros, up +4.5% year-on-year. Acquisitions and disposals impacted growth by -0.7%, linked to the sale of the Homecare activities in October only very partially offset by some bolt-on acquisitions, particularly in North America convenience. The negative currency impact amounted to -3.3%. As a result, organic revenue growth was +8.5%.

This organic growth was fueled by pricing for about half and net new business and some volume growth for the other half.
By geography:

North America achieved organic growth of +10.0%;
Europe was up +8.0%, boosted 80bps by the Rugby World Cup, in the first quarter;
Rest of the World was up +5.7%, impacted by an accounting change for project works in a large contract. Excluding this, organic growth of the zone was +8.4%.

Food services organic growth, at +10.7%, continued to outperform FM services, at +4.5%.
Underlying operating profit was 612 million euros, up +12.3%, or +16.9% at constant currencies. The Underlying operating margin was up +40 bps at 5.1%.
Other operating income & expenses amounted to a positive 30 million euros, with the gain on the sale of the Homecare services more than offsetting restructuring, spin-off costs and amortization of acquisition-related assets.
Operating profit was up +26.1%, or +30.1% at constant currencies, at 642 million euros compared to 509 million euros in the previous year.
Net financial expense was 46 million euros against 43 million euros in the previous year.
The Effective tax rate was at 16.6% against 26.2% in the previous year mainly due to the non- taxable capital gain on the Homecare disposal, as well as the utilization of previously unrecognized tax assets due to better results in France.
Group net profit from continuing activities was up +46.3% to 496 million euros. Underlying net profit adjusted for Other Operating income and expenses net of tax amounted to 427 million euros, up +15.4%.
Free cash flow in the first half was a seasonal negative -102 million euros, an improvement relative to the -236 million euros in First half Fiscal 2023. Net capital expenditure⁽¹⁾ was stable at 246 million euros, representing 2% of revenues.
Net debt increased to 3.4 billion euros up from 2.9 billion euros at the end of Fiscal 2023⁽²⁾ due to the seasonality of cash movements. Given the year-on-year increase in EBITDA, the Net debt to EBITDA ratio⁽¹⁾ is 2.3x, up only 0.1x since year end, and well below the level at the end of First half Fiscal 2023 of 3.2x.

_{(1) New definitions of Net Capital expenditure and EBITDA, please refer to section 1.1 of the Financial Report.

(2) Net debt as of August 31, 2023, was adjusted to reflect the post spin-off situation, please refer to section 1.3.3 of the Financial Report.}

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Commercial momentum

During First half Fiscal 2024, last-12-months (LTM) net new development signed increased to 2.4%, up from 2.2% at year end Fiscal 2023 due to:
- LTM client retention of 95.5%, another record for Sodexo;
- LTM development of 6.8%, slightly short of the 7-8% expected range for the year due to phasing.

Leading the way in sustainability

Sodexo has been strengthening its approach by:

Accelerating the global deployment of its Zero Harm Mindset Program with already more than 6,000 employees trained (representing 38,000 hours of training).
Progressing on client adoption of its low carbon meals strategy:
- In the United States, Sodexo has massively expanded its DefaultVeg offer at college dining halls, encouraging students to choose one of the two plant-based meal options.
- NYC Health + Hospitals and Sodexo celebrated over 1.2 million plant-based meals served since March 2022, beneficial for patient health and the environment.
- Following the successful pilots in Continental Europe, Sodexo is accelerating the deployment of its Sustainable Culinary Masterclass, inspiring its chefs and teams to innovate and introduce more sustainable ingredients.

Once again Sodexo’s continued progress has been recognized externally as it is the only Food services company included in:

the “2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies®” by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, acknowledging companies demonstrating business integrity through best-in-class policies and practices;
the prestigious A-list of the CDP climate ranking, which confirms the progress achieved by Sodexo on its climate ambition, both in performance and transparency.

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Pluxee spin-off completed successfully

The Pluxee spin-off took place on February 1, 2024 in line with the plans laid out a year ago.
Sodexo has become a pure-player in Food and FM services. The operating performance has remained on track throughout the process.

Outlook

Given the solid commercial momentum, some ongoing volume growth, the contribution of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics Games in the fourth quarter, and pricing expected at close to +4% for the full year, Fiscal 2024 guidance is:

Organic revenue growth now expected at the top of the +6% to +8% range.
Underlying operating profit margin improvement confirmed at +30 to +40 bps, at constant currencies.

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Conference call

Sodexo will hold a conference call (in English) today at 9:45 a.m. (Paris time), 8:45 a.m. (London time) to comment on its First half Fiscal 2024 results.

Those who wish to connect:

From the UK: +44 121 281 8004, or
From France: +33 1 70 91 87 04, or
From the US: +1 718 705 8796,

Followed by the access code 07 26 13.

The live audio webcast will be available on www.sodexo.com

The press release, presentation and webcast will be available on the Group website www.sodexo.com in both the “Newsroom” section and the “Investors – Financial Results” section.

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Financial calendar

Fiscal 2024 Third quarter Revenues: July 2, 2024
Fiscal 2024 Annual Results: October 24, 2024
Fiscal 2024 Annual Shareholders Meeting: December 17, 2024

These dates are indicative and may be subject to change without notice. Regular updates are available in the calendar on our website www.sodexo.com

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