Sodexo bets on North America to drive growth recovery

By Lucie Barbier and Dimitri Rhodes

July 16 (Reuters) - French food caterer Sodexo said on Thursday it expects faster revenue growth from 2027 as it seeks to revive performance through stronger execution and expansion in North America, its largest market.

The company, which generates roughly half of its revenue in North America, warned in October 2025 that weak performance in education and healthcare in its single largest market would weigh on this year's results, aiming to restore growth from 2027.

Sodexo now expects organic revenue growth of 2% to 3% in 2027, compared with expected growth of 1.2% to 1.5% in 2026.

Sodexo's new CEO announced in April a review of the company's execution and contracts, citing underinvestment, inconsistent performance and slow decision-making.

"In terms of countries, obviously, the absolute priority is the United States," CEO Thierry Delaporte said on a wire call.

"It's the largest market in the world, and it's also a rapidly growing market," Delaporte added.

Shares in the company were up 1% at 0735 GMT, after rising as much as 2.9%.

"The [2030] objectives appear reachable, but are also relatively far away and require a re-acceleration phase before reaching them," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.

The initial market reaction was positive, but analysts cautioned that the turnaround was likely to take time.

"We still see the turnaround as unlikely to be linear," analysts at J.P Morgan said in a note to investors, while analysts at Jefferies cited a transition phase before acceleration.

The company also announced a global contract with tech giant Meta, one of its largest to date.

Sodexo also said it would increase investments to €1 billion ($1.15 billion) and maintain a 50% dividend payout ratio through 2030.

($1 = 0.8718 euros)

(Reporting by Lucie Barbier and Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Bartosz Dabrowski)