Catering firm Compass sees FY revenue up 4.5 pct

LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Compass Group (Other OTC: CMPGF - news) , the world's biggest caterer, said it expected revenue growth of 4.5 percent for the full-year after a strong year of contract wins in its core North American market.

The British firm, which operates in 50 countries and serves 4 billion meals a year, said on Thursday that excluding acquisitions, organic revenue growth at constant currency is expected to be just over 4 percent for the year to Sept 30.

The company added that it expected its full-year operating margin to be over 7 percent for the first time, and 20 basis points higher than last year, helped by cost savings.

Organic revenue growth is expected to be around 7.5 percent in North America for the full-year, up 10 percent in its fast-growing and emerging markets division and down 3 percent in Europe and Japan where the firm has scaled back operations.