Upper Crust owner SSP's sales running at half of pre-COVID levels

(Reuters) -Upper Crust owner SSP said on Wednesday sales in the latest week were about half of pre-pandemic levels, with its food outlets at train stations and airports lagging a broader industry recovery from the health crisis.

The British company, which has warned that it might take until 2024 to achieve pre-COVID revenue levels, said it was assuming a slightly slower recovery in sales during the 2022 financial year due to uncertainty in the pace of rebound.

Revenue in the latest week was 53% of 2019 levels, with domestic and leisure travel recovering faster than business trips.

SSP reported a stronger recovery in revenue in Europe, North America and the UK over the summer compared to the rest of the world, where slower vaccinations and continued restrictions hampered its business.

That helped it forecast a positive core earnings number for the final quarter ending in September and say it would broadly break even for the second half of the year after a first-half loss.

The company had started to see recovery signs in June across its food outlets in airports and train stations after months of subdued travel activity due to the pandemic.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)