By Hugo Lhomedet and Dimitri Rhodes
(Reuters) -French caterer Sodexo on Thursday forecast slower revenue growth in 2026 than in 2025, citing challenges in its U.S. business.
“One of the main drivers of organic growth for next year will remain price increases,” finance chief Sébastien de Tramasure said in a call with reporters.
Sodexo now sees 2026 organic revenue growth of between 1.5% and 2.5%, from 3% and 4% previously, and expects underlying operating profit margin to be slightly lower than 2025.
“This is reflective of Sodexo’s challenging contract win momentum,” analysts at J.P. Morgan said in a note, citing a 10.5% drop in revenue from new signings in 2025.
Analysts at Jefferies in an investor note cited Sodexo’s net financial expenses and a higher tax rate for 2026.
The company, which generates roughly half of its revenue in North America, issued a profit warning in March citing weak performance in education and healthcare in its main market.
Lower enrollment in the group’s portfolio of universities, mainly concentrated in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, is putting pressure on revenue growth.
“We do not anticipate any significant impact on the evolution of our revenue in this first quarter linked to the (government) shutdown in the United States,” the CFO said.
North America organic growth slowed to 2.8% for the full year from 8.7% a year earlier, hurt by contract losses in its education unit, the company said.
The group, which spun off its voucher business Pluxee in 2024, said in October that Thierry Delaporte will succeed Sophie Bellon as chief executive, effective November 10.
Revenue for the full-year 2025 came in at 24.07 billion euros ($28.07 billion), while organic growth stood at 3.3%, slightly higher than the 3.1% expected by analysts.
Sodexo proposed a dividend of 2.70 euros per share for the full-year 2025.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet and Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
