Edenred beats quarterly revenue estimates as mobility grows

(Corrects headline and paragraph 1 to say revenue, not core earnings, beat expectations in Q3.)

By Margaux Perrin and Dimitri Rhodes

Oct 21 (Reuters) - French vouchers and benefit cards provider Edenred on Wednesday reported third-quarter revenue above expectations at €725 million, versus company compiled consensus of €709 million, citing continued growth of its mobility sector.

The operating revenue stood at €667 million, also above the company compiled consensus of €658 million.

• Full-year 2026 EBITDA still seen falling 7% to 10% on a like-for-like basis, translating to 1.22 billion to 1.26 billion euros after third-quarter perimeter effects, versus 1.23 billion to 1.27 billion previously.

• Mobility revenue rose 10.7% organically to €202 million, with Beyond Fuel services, including fleet management, tolls, EV charging and VAT recovery, growing at double-digit rates.

• "Mobility is a sector which, one might say, is still in its early stages, with many new markets emerging, such as electric vehicles. It is therefore experiencing a faster rate of growth," Edenred executive Virginie Duperat-Vergne said in a press call.

• In Japan, operating revenue rose more than 50% in the first nine months after authorities more than doubled the legal face-value cap on meal vouchers in April.

• Employee benefits revenue fell 5.9% like-for-like to €424 million, hit by Italy's merchant-commission cap effective September 2025 and Brazil's cap and interoperability rules from early 2026.

(Reporting by Margaux Perrin and Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)