Pluxee posts smaller-than-expected organic sales drop, despite Brazil

July 3 (Reuters) - French voucher and benefits company Pluxee posted on Friday a lower-than-expected organic drop in sales in the third quarter, beating expectations, supported by new client wins in spite of an uncertain environment. 

The company's sales dropped 3.3% organically to €312 million ($357.1 million) from €310 million a year earlier, above the €299 million that was expected in a company-compiled consensus.

Benefits providers like Pluxee and Edenred are increasingly relying on regions like Latin America to drive profits, as they cope with slowdowns in their main business areas.

As anticipated, third-quarter performance in the region was mostly impacted by the 3.6% regulatory cap on merchant discount rates in Brazil.

"In Brazil, our teams remain fully mobilized in delivering our action plan," Pluxee CEO Aurélien Sonnet said in a statement.

The company also confirmed its financial objectives for the full year.

($1 = 0.8738 euros)

(Reporting by Mathias de Rozario and Zakarya Meliani; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Thomas Derpinghaus)