French group Sodexo eyes further sales and profit growth

PARIS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - French catering-to-vouchers group Sodexo said on Thursday that its cost savings programme was on track and was confident in its ability to grow sales and profits further in the current fiscal year.

Sodexo, the world's second-biggest catering services company after Compass Group (Other OTC: CMPGF - news) , made the forecast after posting a rise of 2.5 percent in like-for-like revenue to 20.25 billion euros ($21.66 billion) for the fiscal year ended August 31.

Robust growth in North America and Britain offset a tough environment in the mining and oil sectors, while business in France suffered from strikes, floods and security fears, most notably in the fourth quarter.

Operating profit before exceptional items rose 8.2 percent to 1.20 billion euros, in line with the group's guidance for a rise of 8 percent, Sodexo added in a statement.

Sodexo was expected to post revenue of 20.402 billion euros and operating profit of 1.262 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll.

For the current fiscal year 2016-17, Sodexo forecast underlying revenue growth of around 3 percent and a rise in operating profit, excluding currency effects, of between 8 percent and 9 percent. It also confirmed its medium-term goals.

($1 = 0.9348 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)