Compass group has announced a strong first-quarter and profit growth ahead of expectations, despite rising food costs.
The world's largest catering company said its "broad mix" of clients in North America helped to drive revenue growth similar to that seen 12 months ago.
Revenues and operating profit in the UK remained "broadly in line with the same period last year", the interim statement said.
The caterer said Latin America, South Africa and the UAE also experienced positive trends, as it announced its acquisition of Brazilian catering service GRSA from European hotel and tourism firm Accor SA.
Operations in Japan and Australia were also "well ahead" of last year according to the update.
The group said that it had repurchased 65 million ordinary shares in its buyback programme during the quarter, bringing the total to 304 million shares for a total consideration of £923 million.
Addressing rising food costs, the company said: "We are managing the impact of food cost inflation…particularly in the key areas of purchasing and supply chain efficiencies; unit cost efficiencies including menu re-engineering; and client and consumer pricing."
Shares in the Chertsey-based catering provider have jumped up 3.82 per cent to trade at 325.75p in early trading on the London stock exchange.
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