Compass drives growth through M&A

Compass Group’s (CPG) full-year figures benefited from a combination of positive market trends and the performance of acquired assets. However, the catering giant warned of slightly slower than expected profit growth through to the September 2025 year-end. That equates to high single-digit growth in underlying operating profit, “driven by organic revenue growth above 7.5 per cent and ongoing margin progression”. That’s hardly cause for concern, particularly given ongoing progress in unit profitability, but the percentage increase is still adrift of company-compiled consensus. It could be that management doesn’t want to raise expectations to unrealistic levels; underpromising and overdelivering is always the preferable option.