CMPGF - Compass Group PLC (CMPGF) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-02-08 10:29:06 ET
Compass Group PLC (CMPGF)
Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call
February 08, 2024 03:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Dominic Blakemore - Group Chief Executive Officer
Petros Parras - Group Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Jamie Rollo - Morgan Stanley
Vicki Stern - Barclays
Jaafar Mestari - BNP Paribas
Julien Richer - Kepler
Jarrod Castle - UBS
Neil Tyler - Redburn Atlantic
Presentation
Dominic Blakemore
Thank you. Good morning everyone and welcome to the first quarter results call. I'm delighted to have Petros here with me today, who took over as our CFO in December. We've had a great start to the year, with strong organic revenue growth and a couple of exciting strategic acquisitions. Growth was strong across all of our regions, but we're particularly pleased with Europe, which continues to build a solid track record of performance.
We were positively surprised by the like-for-like volumes particularly in B&I, which has benefited from more return to office and hospitality events around Christmas compared to the year before. The outsourcing environment continues to be strong with good recent wins and our first-time outsourcing rate is in line with last year.
As we focus on core markets with significant growth opportunities, we're using our scale and the strength of our balance sheet to invest both organically and through M&A. This quarter, we completed the acquisition of HOFMANNs in Germany and agreed to buy CH&CO in the UK. Both businesses have exciting growth potential through exposure to a diverse portfolio of subsectors and more flexible operating models.
Two weeks ago, we also announced the disposal of our small operations in China. Until these deals complete, our guidance remains unchanged. Operating profit growth is expected to be towards 13%, delivered through high single-digit organic revenue growth and ongoing margin progression. You'll remember that we said in November, there'll be some lumpiness this year, the first half benefiting from stronger pricing with net new weighted towards the second half of the year. It's been a great quarter and we're delivering on our strategic growth priorities. By focusing on the attractive opportunities in our core markets and investing in CapEx and M&A, we're unlocking future growth. As a result, profit growth will continue to exceed revenue, generating strong cash generation and long-term compounding shareholder returns....
Compass Group PLC (CMPGF) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript