Compass develops new technology to allow office workers to pre-order meals from their desks, helping to lift half-year pre-tax profits to £608m
Moving in the right direction: Compass Chief executive Richard Cousins
Compass has developed new technology to allow office workers to pre-order meals from their desks, helping to lift half-year pre-tax profits 5.7 per cent to £608m.
The world’s largest catering group, which counts Chelsea Football Club, the American Senate and the World Bank as clients, also handed back £1bn to investors as a special dividend.
The Surrey-based firm employs more than 500,000 people feeding prisoners, schoolchildren and soldiers in more than 50 countries. It saw particularly strong growth in North America which now accounts for 45 per cent of sales.
In America it has cornered the market for feeding tech geeks, winning accounts in Silicon Valley from both Google and Twitter. Many of the firms offer free meals to staff and Compass says it is trying to develop new office canteens that will encourage staff to gather and socialise. It is also able to offer workers the chance to order from their desks, or to have food delivered to them.
Chief executive Richard Cousins said economic conditions and new business in Europe and Japan were starting to improve.
Total sales for the six months to March 31 rose 4.2 per cent to £8.7bn and the firm increased the interim dividend to 8.8p a share, up 10 per cent.
The shares rose 15.5p to 996p.
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