French catering group Sodexo lags Q3 sales expectations

(Reuters) -French food caterer Sodexo reported third-quarter sales slightly below expectations on Tuesday, citing a slowdown in China and a change in how it recognises revenues from some fixed-term Energy & Resources projects in Australia.

Revenue rose 6.8% organically from a year earlier to 6.07 billion euros ($6.51 billion) in the third quarter through May 31, missing a consensus forecast of 6.11 billion euros provided by the company.

Organic growth slowed down compared to the previous three month period due to lower pricing effects, higher comparison numbers, and the positive impact of the leap year in the second quarter, it said in a statement.

Sodexo, which spun off its voucher business Pluxee at the start of February, is still raising prices to cushion the impact of high inflation, though at a slower pace.

It said that about half of the organic growth was fuelled by price increases, which fell below 4% in the quarter, compared to more than 5% in the previous fiscal year.

The company, which will provide catering for the Paris Olympic Games and the Paralympics this summer, also confirmed its outlook for the year to the end of August.

($1 = 0.9319 euros)

(Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes and Diana Mandiá in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)