Catering giant Compass said it expected a gradual recovery in third quarter margins after interim profits and revenue slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which provides meals to a wide range of government services such as schools and hospitals, also said it was repaying government furlough cash.
Revenue fell by 32.4% to £8.4bn and underlying operating profit decreased by 64.5% to £290m due to the adverse impact of COVID and related actions to resize the business and adjust costs.
Compass said it expected gradual improvement in revenue and an operating margin of between 4.5% and 5% in the third quarter and was confident in rebuilding group underlying margin to above 7% before it returned to pre-Covid volumes.
It did not specify how much it received in under the job retention scheme, but did report £119m in furlough payments and tax deferrals.
“With the gathering pace of vaccination rollouts across our major markets, we are working closely with our clients to prepare to reopen their sites safely, although the picture across the world remains mixed,” chief executive Dominic Blakemore said.
“With vaccination rollout underway in our major markets, we are encouraged by the easing of restrictions so we can now focus on working alongside clients to safely reopen their organisations.”
