Compass - Compass Group CR Report 2009

2009 Highlights

This year we have delivered an excellent performance in a challenging environment. Consistently high levels of net new business and a step change in operating efficiency, generating £161 million of savings, have contributed to a further £100 million of profit growth and 60 basis points of margin growth.

The main drivers of the operating profit growth this year, excluding the impact of acquisitions and disposals and associates, have been:

£27m from net new business
£30m from our existing base estate
£31m of above unit cost savings

Compass Group share price performance
vs FTSE 100 Index

over the last 3 years

Revenues

1.3% revenue growth on a constant currency basis

Underlying operating profit

A 13% increase in underlying operating profit on a constant currency basis

Underlying operating margin

A 70 basis point increase in underlying margin

Underlying basic earnings per share

A 36% increase in underlying basic earnings per share

Dividends per share

A 10% increase in the total dividend per ordinary share

Free cash flow

A 14% increase in free cash flow

Constant currency restates the prior year results to 2009’s average exchange rates.
Total underlying operating profit includes share of profit of associates but excludes the amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisition.
Operating profit by region excludes share of profit of associates and the amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisition.
Underlying operating margin is based on revenue and operating profit excluding share of profit of associates and the amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisition.
Underlying basic earnings per share excludes the amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisition, hedge accounting ineffectiveness, the change in the fair value of investments and minority interest put options and the tax attributable to these amounts.
Organic growth is calculated by adjusting for acquisitions (excluding current year acquisitions and including a full year in respect of prior year acquisitions), disposals (excluded from both periods) and exchange rate movements (translating the prior year at current year exchange rates) and compares the current year results against the prior year.
Unless stated otherwise, all figures in this document relate to the year ended 30 September 2009.
The data shown in the Chief Executive’s statement and Our sectors is for the continuing business only.

Chief Executive's statement

photo: Compass Group CEO

Our commitment to Corporate Responsibility (CR) reflects the fact that setting the highest standards for responsible business practice underpins the long-term success of any great business. Sound policies and practices make sound business sense.

We approach CR in the same way we manage every other major aspect of running our business. We set a global framework, stating our objectives, policies and measures, and empower our country management teams to deliver in the context of their local market.

I’m very proud of the great work our teams do around the world in driving progress on our CR journey and I’m delighted to be able to share some of these with you through this, our new CR website.

A further important step on our CR journey has been to develop a common set of CR targets and measures, as we committed to do, to enable our stakeholders to evaluate our progress. These measures and targets relate to our key impacts including the environment, health and safety, our people, our supply chain as well as business ethics. Click here to view our 2008-2009 targets and progress.

Your feedback is important to us and if you do have any questions relating to our CR activity, please email our CR team at Responsibility@compass-group.co.uk

We look forward to updating you on our CR progress this year in the 2008-2009 CR Report to be published in January 2010.

Richard Cousins
Group Chief Executive

Hide statement

Sustainable Seafood

We continue to make significant progress in the US in our sustainable fish and seafood sourcing initiative, through our partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium. Originally launched in 2006, the initiative fortifies our commitment to protecting threatened fish supply by moving the Company’s purchases away from threatened fish species and towards sustainably sourced supplies.

Supporting Local Farmers

Low carbon food

As part of our commitment to sustainable agriculture and wellness, the US business has implemented various initiatives to support local farmers nationally. One such example is a promotion called ‘It Takes You - Eat Local’, where sites around the USA feature locally grown produce and provide information about their local farms.