Compass Group plc (CPG.L) - Company Research

Last Updated: 21 September 2026

Compass Group plc is the world's largest contract caterer, feeding millions of people every day across offices, hospitals, schools, stadiums, defence bases and remote mining camps. It is also one of the most misunderstood businesses in the FTSE 100, because two structural changes have made its reported numbers hard to compare with history: the Group switched its reporting currency from sterling to US dollars with effect from 1 October 2023, and since 1 April 2026 its ordinary shares have traded on the London Stock Exchange in US dollars rather than pence. This report restates that picture from primary filings only — the FY2025 results announcement of 25 November 2025, the H1 FY2026 statement of 11 May 2026 and the Q3 FY2026 trading update of 21 July 2026. No analyst opinions, ratings or price targets appear anywhere in it.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Ticker / exchange	CPG (London Stock Exchange, Main Market); ADR CMPGY (OTCQX)
Sector	Consumer discretionary — contract catering and support services
Headquarters	Chertsey, Surrey, United Kingdom
Incorporation	England and Wales, company number 4083914
Index membership	FTSE 100
Reporting currency	US dollars, with effect from 1 October 2023 (previously sterling)
Share trading currency	US dollars on the LSE since 1 April 2026 (previously GBp)
Employees	Over 590,000 worldwide (as at FY2025)
CEO / Leadership	Dominic Blakemore, Group Chief Executive since January 2018; Petros Parras, Group CFO since December 2023; Ian Meakins, Chairman since December 2020
Market cap	US$50.95bn (checked 21 Sep 2026)
Share price	US$29.97 (checked 21 Sep 2026)
Revenue (FY2025, year to 30 Sep 2025)	US$46,070m statutory; US$46,127m underlying
Operating profit (FY2025)	US$2,964m statutory (6.4% margin); US$3,335m underlying (7.2% margin)
Net income (FY2025)	US$1,880m profit for the year; US$1,868m attributable to shareholders
Dividend per share (FY2025)	65.9 US cents (interim 22.6c + final 43.3c), up 10.2%
Net debt / underlying EBITDA	1.7x at 31 Mar 2026 (1.4x at 30 Sep 2025); company target range 1.0–1.5x
Financial year end	30 September

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2. The Bull and Bear Case

Bull Case

• A market that is still three-quarters unoutsourced: management sizes the addressable market at more than US$360bn with Compass holding under 15% of it, and states that nearly three-quarters of the market is still self-operated or served by regional players. In the twelve months to June 2026, 50% of new business wins came from first-time outsourcing, up from 45% at H1 FY2025.
• Net new business has stepped up and stayed up: net new business growth was 4.5% in FY2025, the fourth consecutive year inside the 4–5% target range, against a pre-pandemic rate management describes as around 3%. The Q3 FY2026 update confirmed net new growth had accelerated back into the range and was on track for a fifth consecutive year.
• Margin is compounding, not just holding: underlying operating margin went from 7.1% in FY2024 to 7.2% in FY2025 and to 7.4% in H1 FY2026, a 20 basis point improvement, with North America at 8.4% and International at 6.1%. Management attributes this to overhead leverage and acquisition synergies rather than price.
• Guidance was raised mid-year and then reiterated: FY2026 underlying operating profit growth guidance moved from "around 10%" at the November 2025 results to "above 11% in constant currency" in May 2026, and was reconfirmed on 21 July 2026 on the back of around 7% organic revenue growth and around 2% profit growth from M&A.
• Cash generation and credit standing: FY2025 underlying free cash flow was US$1,975m at 87.8% conversion, and liquidity at 30 September 2025 was US$5,475m including a fully undrawn US$3,200m revolving credit facility. Credit ratings are S&P A/A-1 and Moody's A2/P-1, both on stable outlook, with USPP covenant leverage of 1.2x against a 3.5x limit.

Bear Case

• Leverage has broken out of the target range: net debt rose from US$6,418m at 30 September 2025 to US$8,632m at 31 March 2026, taking net debt to underlying EBITDA to 1.7x against a stated 1.0–1.5x target. Management expects leverage to remain above the range through FY2026 after peaking at the half year.
• Statutory profitability is drifting away from the underlying story: FY2025 statutory operating margin was 6.4% against 7.2% underlying, and in H1 FY2026 the statutory margin actually fell 10 basis points to 6.4% while the underlying margin rose. Non-underlying charges climbed to US$234m in H1 FY2026 from US$151m a year earlier, of which US$223m was acquisition-related.
• Acquisitions are diluting returns on capital: ROCE fell 80 basis points to 18.2% in FY2025 from 19.0%, which the company explicitly attributes to the impact of acquisitions on capital employed. Net M&A spend was US$2.4bn in the nine months to June 2026.
• Organic growth is decelerating as pricing normalises: organic revenue growth has stepped down from 8.7% in FY2025 to 7.2% in H1 FY2026 and 7.1% in Q3 FY2026. Within H1 FY2026 pricing contributed only 2.7% and like-for-like volume just 0.7%; International like-for-like moderated further in Q3.
• Capital intensity and weaker interim cash conversion: FY2025 capital expenditure was US$1,514m, or 3.3% of underlying revenue, and is trending around 3.5% of sales in FY2026 with management expecting it to be slightly elevated at the full year. Underlying operating cash conversion in H1 FY2026 was only 72.0%.

3. Revenue Breakdown by Segment

From 1 October 2024 Compass merged its former Rest of World region into Europe to create a single International segment. It now reports two geographic segments plus central activities. The figures below are FY2025 underlying revenue as disclosed in the FY2025 results announcement.

Segment	% of revenue	What it is
North America	68.1% (US$31,417m)	United States and Canada across all five client sectors. Organic revenue grew 9.1% in FY2025 at roughly 97% client retention, with an underlying operating margin of 8.2%. Acquisition activity here centres on Canteen, the vending and unattended retail business.
International	31.9% (US$14,710m)	Europe plus the former Rest of World region covering Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Turkey. Organic revenue grew 7.7% in FY2025 at 95% client retention, with an underlying operating margin of 6.1%. Compass exited Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Kazakhstan during the year.
Central activities	n/m (US$(151)m underlying operating cost)	Unallocated group overheads, carried as a cost rather than a revenue-generating segment.

Compass also discloses a sector view of the same FY2025 underlying revenue, which is arguably the more useful lens on cyclicality:

Client sector	FY2025 underlying revenue	% of group
Business & Industry	US$17,946m	38.9%
Healthcare & Senior Living	US$10,745m	23.3%
Education	US$8,333m	18.1%
Sports & Leisure	US$6,521m	14.1%
Defence, Offshore & Remote	US$2,582m	5.6%

By service type, the H1 FY2026 investor factsheet splits the group 86% food services and 14% support services.

4. Business Model & Moat

How it makes money. Compass runs catering and support services under contract on client premises. The H1 FY2026 investor factsheet splits the contract base into three roughly equal thirds: cost-plus contracts, profit-and-loss (concession) contracts, and fixed-price contracts. Under P&L contracts Compass is not liable for rent, rates or utilities and may receive client subsidies. The split matters because it determines how quickly cost inflation is recovered: cost-plus and P&L contracts reprice dynamically, while the fixed-price third relies on indexation clauses for food and labour and on an increased repricing cadence.

What actually holds clients in place. Client retention was 96.3% at the group level in FY2025 and 96% at both H1 and Q3 FY2026, with North America running around 97%. That retention rate, applied to a US$46bn revenue base, is what makes 4–5% net new business translate into high single-digit organic growth. New business wins reached US$4.3bn on a last-twelve-months basis at Q3 FY2026, up 16% year on year.

Where the scale advantage comes from. Compass describes its edge as combining the bespoke offer and decentralised client relationships of a local operator with the procurement, technology, labour and overhead leverage of a global one. The procurement layer is the clearest expression of this: Foodbuy is the flagship group purchasing organisation, and after acquiring Pro Care Management in Germany in February 2026 Compass now operates GPOs in five of its top ten markets.

Operating leverage is the stated margin mechanism. The FY2025 margin gain of 10 basis points was attributed to operating leverage on higher revenue, and the 20 basis point gain in H1 FY2026 to overhead leverage and M&A synergies. The group's own growth algorithm is mid-to-high single-digit organic revenue growth plus margin progression plus bolt-on M&A, equalling high single-digit operating profit growth.

5. Financial Health

Two currency notes are essential to reading the table below. First, Compass changed its reporting currency from sterling to US dollars with effect from 1 October 2023, restating FY2023 into dollars; FY2021 and FY2022 have never been restated and are shown as originally reported in sterling. Second, all per-share figures follow the same split — pence for FY2021 and FY2022, US cents from FY2023.

Fiscal Year	Revenue ($m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2021	£17,908m†	−10.2%†	20.0p†	30.9p†	14.0p†	£3,819m†
FY2022	£25,512m†	+42.5%†	62.6p†	63.0p†	31.5p†	£3,990m†
FY2023	$37,907m	+21.6%‡	92.2c	105.2c	52.6c	$3,703m
FY2024	$42,002m	+10.8%	82.3c	119.5c	59.8c	$4,816m
FY2025	$46,070m	+9.7%	110.1c	131.9c	65.9c	$5,611m

† FY2021 and FY2022 are sterling figures as originally reported; the group had not yet adopted US dollar reporting and these years were never restated. FY2021 revenue growth is measured against FY2020 statutory revenue of £19,940m. Long-term debt is non-current borrowings plus non-current lease liabilities in every year. ‡ The FY2023 growth rate of +21.6% is measured on the sterling basis on which both FY2022 and FY2023 were originally reported (£31,028m against £25,512m); the US$37,907m shown is the restated dollar figure published in the FY2024 announcement, and no company-reported dollar figure exists for FY2022 against which to measure it.

Compass publishes a full profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement only at the half year and full year. The Q1 and Q3 trading updates disclose organic revenue growth and commentary, but no revenue in dollars and no earnings. The table below therefore reports half-years, most recent first, with H2 periods derived as the full year less the disclosed first half.

Quarter / Half	Revenue	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
H1 FY2026 (to 31 Mar 2026)	$24,983m	72.8c	62.9c
H2 FY2025 (derived)	$23,502m	67.4c	55.9c
H1 FY2025 (to 31 Mar 2025)	$22,568m	64.5c	54.2c
H2 FY2024 (derived)	$21,258m	61.2c	31.9c
FY2025 full year	$46,070m	131.9c	110.1c

H2 figures are not disclosed by Compass and are derived as full year less first half. The H2 FY2024 adjusted EPS of 61.2c is approximate, because the H1 FY2024 comparator of 58.3c was published on a constant-currency basis.

Cash flow and balance sheet, FY2025. Net cash from operating activities was US$3,366m and capital expenditure US$1,514m, giving simple free cash flow of US$1,852m; the company's own underlying free cash flow measure was US$1,975m at 87.8% conversion. Underlying EBITDA was US$4,645m against underlying operating profit of US$3,335m, implying total underlying depreciation and amortisation of US$1,310m. At 30 September 2025 current borrowings were US$1,043m and non-current borrowings US$4,383m, with current and non-current lease liabilities of US$338m and US$1,228m, against cash of US$575m. Company-disclosed net debt was US$6,418m at 1.4x underlying EBITDA.

Cash flow and balance sheet, H1 FY2026. Net cash from operating activities was US$1,588m and underlying free cash flow US$825m, up 11.0%, but underlying operating cash conversion was only 72.0%. Net M&A expenditure of US$2.3bn in the half — Vermaat at US$1.7bn in December 2025 and Pro Care Management at US$270m in February 2026 — pushed current borrowings to US$1,815m and non-current borrowings to US$5,675m, with lease liabilities of US$364m current and US$1,277m non-current, against cash of US$523m. Net debt reached US$8,632m at 1.7x underlying EBITDA.

FY2026 guidance as stated by management. The Q3 update of 21 July 2026 guided to underlying operating profit growth of above 11% in constant currency, driven by around 7% organic revenue growth, around 2% profit growth from M&A, and ongoing margin progression. Underlying finance costs are guided at approximately US$350m and the underlying effective tax rate at approximately 25.5%. On spot rates at 15 July 2026, currency translation would add US$438m to revenue and US$23m to operating profit.

6. Valuation Metrics

Raw metrics, September 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Market cap	US$50.95bn (checked 21 Sep 2026, share price US$29.97)
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~25.2x (US$29.97 / TTM statutory EPS of 118.8c, being FY2025 110.1c + H1 FY2026 62.9c − H1 FY2025 54.2c). On TTM underlying EPS of 140.2c the multiple is ~21.4x.
P/E (forward)	n/m — Compass does not publish an EPS guidance figure; FY2026 guidance is expressed as underlying operating profit growth above 11% at constant currency.
P/S (TTM)	~1.05x (market cap ~US$50.95bn / TTM revenue ~US$48,485m, being FY2025 $46,070m + H1 FY2026 $24,983m − H1 FY2025 $22,568m)
Enterprise value	~US$59.6bn (market cap ~US$50.95bn + total debt ~US$9.13bn − cash ~US$0.52bn, per the 31 Mar 2026 balance sheet; total debt is borrowings of $1,815m current and $5,675m non-current plus lease liabilities of $364m current and $1,277m non-current). Cross-checks against company-disclosed net debt of US$8,632m.
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	~12.8x (EV ~US$59.6bn / underlying EBITDA of US$4,645m). The EBITDA figure is the FY2025 full-year underlying EBITDA disclosed by the company; Compass does not disclose a first-half EBITDA comparator for FY2025, so a strict trailing-twelve-month EBITDA cannot be built from primary sources. EBITDA reconciles as underlying operating profit of $3,335m plus total underlying D&A of $1,310m.
P/FCF	~27.5x (market cap ~US$50.95bn / FCF ~US$1,852m; FCF = operating cash flow $3,366m − capex $1,514m per the FY2025 cash flow statement). On the company's own underlying free cash flow of US$1,975m the multiple is ~25.8x.
52-week high	US$37.12
52-week low	US$26.00
Short interest (% of float)	0.00% of public float on the CMPGY ADR line as at 31 Aug 2026 (15,708 shares short, per MarketBeat). No aggregate short interest is published for the LSE line; UK disclosure captures only individual net short positions of 0.5% or more on the FCA register, and none is currently disclosed against Compass.
Days to cover	0.0 days on the CMPGY ADR line as at 31 Aug 2026, against average daily volume of 255,856 shares. Not published for the LSE line.
Dividend yield (trailing)	~2.2% (FY2025 dividend of 65.9c against US$29.97)
Shares outstanding	~1,700m (FY2025 weighted average used for EPS: 1,697m)

7. What Are They Building

Compass is not building products; it is building distribution, procurement density and, increasingly, a technology layer on top of a very physical business.

• A European platform assembled through M&A. Vermaat Groep, a Netherlands premium food services business with around €700m of 2025 revenue and a growing presence in Germany, Belgium and France, completed on 16 December 2025 for US$1.7bn. It follows Dupont Restauration in France in October 2024 and 4Service in Norway in January 2025, which together cost US$701m including repayment of acquired borrowings. Management reported at H1 FY2026 that Vermaat integration was progressing well.
• Procurement density. The February 2026 acquisition of Pro Care Management, a German food group purchasing organisation, for US$270m took Compass to GPOs in five of its top ten markets. Procurement scale is the single most transferable advantage across the acquired European businesses.
• Serving the data-centre build-out as a named sub-sector. The Q3 FY2026 update stated that Compass continues to support leading AI hyperscalers across the data centre ecosystem, providing food and support services across both construction and operational phases. Business & Industry generated more than US$2bn of new business over the period and delivered double-digit organic growth.
• Data, technology and AI in operations. At H1 FY2026 Blakemore described deploying data, technology and AI to operate more effectively and consistently at scale. The group separately flags technology and AI-driven innovation as a growth enabler supporting new service opportunities and more personalised client solutions.
• Canteen and unattended retail in North America. The stated North American acquisition focus is Canteen, the vending and unattended market business, with US$438m of net M&A spend in the region in FY2025.
• Portfolio reshaping, now declared complete. Compass exited Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Kazakhstan in FY2025 following five country exits in FY2024, booking a net loss on sale and closure of US$31m and disposal proceeds net of exit costs of US$166m.
• Proof points on the contract side. In May 2026 the University of Kentucky selected Compass as its preferred Enterprise Services Partner for integrated campus and healthcare services, described in the Q3 update as the group's largest Education win to date.

Capital allocation is unchanged: a strong investment-grade rating with net debt to EBITDA of 1.0–1.5x, capex around 3.5% of revenue, M&A required to return above cost of capital by the end of year two, an ordinary dividend at around 50% of underlying earnings, and surplus capital returned to shareholders thereafter. The US$500m buyback announced in November 2023 completed in December 2024 and no new programme has been announced; H1 FY2026 showed nil buyback spend.

8. Competitive Landscape

Compass is roughly three and a half times the size of Aramark and around six times the size of Sodexo by market value, and it is growing organically faster than both Sodexo and ISS while running behind Aramark's current reported pace.

Peer	Market cap (Sep 2026)	Key 2026 metric
Sodexo (EPA:SW)	€8.39bn	FY2026 organic revenue growth guidance raised to 1.2%–1.5% from 0.5%–1.0% after Q3 organic growth of +2.0%; FY2025 revenue €24.07bn. A 2030 growth acceleration plan launched 16 Jul 2026 targets organic growth above 5% and operating margin above 5% by 2030.
Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)	US$14.88bn	FY2026 organic revenue growth guidance raised to 9–10%; fiscal Q3 2026 revenue US$5.1bn, up 9% year on year with organic growth of 9%; adjusted EPS growth guided at 20–25% for FY2026.
ISS A/S (CPH:ISS)	DKK 45.11bn	Q2 2026 organic growth of 8.9% after 7.4% in Q1; full-year guidance reaffirmed at above 5% organic growth; a DKK 2.5bn buyback is running, with the second DKK 1.85bn tranche started in August 2026.
Elior Group (EPA:ELIOR)	€515.66m	H1 FY2026, reported 21 May 2026, delivered positive organic growth but guidance was cut for lower near-term growth after delayed contract ramp-ups and an Italian tariff dispute, against prior FY2026 guidance of 3%–4% organic growth. FY2025 adjusted EBITDA exceeded €200m.

9. Leadership & Insider Activity

Dominic Blakemore has been Group Chief Executive since January 2018, having joined the board and executive committee in February 2012. Petros Parras became Group Chief Financial Officer in December 2023, moving up from Regional Finance Director for Europe and the Middle East, and Ian Meakins has chaired the board since December 2020. In May 2026 Shelley Roberts, previously Group Chief Commercial Officer, was appointed Chief Executive of the International segment.

Insider activity in calendar 2026 has been light and one-directional: both disclosed dealings are purchases by the CFO, and no director sales have been announced. The larger movements were the December 2025 vesting of 2018 Long Term Incentive Plan awards.

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Petros Parras (Group CFO)	09 Jan 2026	Buy	14,800	£23.8380	£352,802	Open-market purchase; holding after 54,585 shares
Petros Parras (Group CFO)	02 Mar 2026	Buy	764	£22.4352	£17,141	Dividend reinvestment
Dominic Blakemore (Group CEO)	01 Dec 2025	Vest	636,739	n/a (nil-cost vest)	n/a	Long Term Incentive Plan 2018; some shares sold at £23.4146 to cover tax
Palmer Brown (Group COO, North America)	01 Dec 2025	Vest	259,401	n/a (nil-cost vest)	n/a	Long Term Incentive Plan 2018
Petros Parras (Group CFO)	01 Dec 2025	Vest	39,785	n/a (nil-cost vest)	n/a	Long Term Incentive Plan 2018

10. Key Risks

• Leverage and integration (Financial): net debt rose US$2.2bn in six months to US$8,632m at 31 March 2026 and leverage sits at 1.7x against a 1.0–1.5x target, with management expecting it to stay above the range through FY2026. Slower synergy delivery on Vermaat or Pro Care would extend the deleveraging path.
• Widening statutory-to-underlying gap (Financial): non-underlying charges rose to US$234m in H1 FY2026 from US$151m, of which US$223m was acquisition-related, pushing the statutory operating margin down 10 basis points even as the underlying margin rose. FY2025 non-underlying pre-tax charges were US$436m.
• Returns dilution (Financial): ROCE fell 80 basis points to 18.2% in FY2025, attributed by the company to the impact of acquisitions on capital employed. Continued M&A at this pace keeps downward pressure on the measure.
• Food safety and allergens (Operational): a principal risk in the FY2025 announcement. Compass feeds millions of consumers daily and states that safety breaches could cause serious business interruption, criminal or civil prosecution, increased costs and reputational damage. Mitigation runs through Global Safety and Supply Chain Integrity Standards and a Global Allergen Management Plan.
• Occupational safety and talent (Operational): with over 590,000 employees, failure to comply with workplace safety standards can cause injuries, operational disruption and legal consequences. The group separately flags that changing economic conditions may increase attrition at all levels.
• Client-base cyclicality (Macro): Business & Industry is the largest sector at close to 40% of revenue and is the most exposed to white-collar employment. The FY2025 announcement notes that certain sectors could be susceptible to negative shifts in the economy and employment rates, and that recent global market instability has increased the potential risks.
• Pricing normalisation (Macro): the pricing contribution has fallen from around 3% in FY2025 to 2.7% in H1 FY2026 while like-for-like volume is just 0.7%. One third of contracts are fixed-price, where cost recovery depends on indexation clauses and repricing cadence.
• Cyber-security and generative AI (Regulatory and operational): the group cites technology failures, loss of confidential data, data privacy breaches and an increased threat of cyber attacks, and separately identifies generative AI as an emerging risk covering data confidentiality, data privacy and intellectual property.
• Currency translation (Macro): with reporting now in dollars but a large non-dollar earnings base, translation is material. At 15 July 2026 spot rates, FX would add US$438m to revenue and US$23m to operating profit; in FY2025 adverse FX translation on net debt cost US$171m, mainly on euro-denominated debt.
• Pension obligations (Financial): the deficit in non-UK defined benefit schemes rose to US$1,395m at 30 September 2025 from US$1,274m, while the UK Plan surplus fell to US$327m from US$542m, although roughly 98% of its US$1.8bn of liabilities are now buy-in insured.

11. Recent Developments

• 21 Jul 2026 — Q3 FY2026 trading update, guidance reiterated. Organic revenue grew 7.1% in the quarter, with North America up 7.5% and International up 6.4%. Client retention held at 96% and last-twelve-month new business wins reached US$4.3bn, up 16%, half of it from first-time outsourcing. Year-to-date net M&A spend was US$2.4bn and FY2026 guidance of above 11% underlying operating profit growth in constant currency was reconfirmed.
• 11 May 2026 — H1 FY2026 results and a guidance upgrade. Revenue of US$25.0bn was up 9% in constant currency with organic growth of 7.2%; underlying operating profit rose 12% in constant currency to US$1,839m at a 7.4% margin; underlying EPS was 72.8c, up 12%, and the interim dividend rose 13% to 25.5c. FY2026 underlying operating profit growth guidance was raised from around 10% to above 11%. Leverage of 1.7x sat outside the target range.
• 14 May 2026 — University of Kentucky names Compass preferred Enterprise Services Partner. The contract covers integrated campus and healthcare services and was later described in the Q3 update as the group's largest Education sector win to date.
• 01 Apr 2026 — LSE trading currency changed from GBp to US dollars. The ordinary shares now quote in dollars, aligning the trading currency with the reporting currency. Compass confirmed the change does not affect FTSE index inclusion or the LSE listing, and dividends continue to be paid in sterling by default with a dollar election available.
• 05 Feb 2026 — Q1 FY2026 trading update and AGM. Organic revenue grew 7.3%, net new business stayed within the 4–5% range and client retention remained above 96%, with Business & Industry delivering double-digit organic growth in North America. All AGM resolutions passed.
• 16 Dec 2025 — Vermaat Groep acquisition completed for US$1.7bn. The Netherlands premium food services business, with around €700m of 2025 revenue and operations in Germany, Belgium and France, continues to operate on a standalone basis. Pro Care Management in Germany followed in February 2026 for US$270m.
• 25 Nov 2025 — FY2025 results. Revenue of US$46.1bn with organic growth of 8.7%, underlying operating profit up 11.7% in constant currency to US$3,335m, net new business of 4.5% for a fourth consecutive year in range, client retention of 96.3%, underlying EPS of 131.9c and a full-year dividend of 65.9c, up 10.2%. Leverage closed at 1.4x and the country exit programme was declared complete.

12. Key Dates to Watch

• 24 Nov 2026 — FY2026 full-year results, confirmed in both the company financial calendar and the H1 FY2026 statement. This is the report that will show whether the above-11% constant-currency underlying operating profit growth guidance was met and where leverage finished the year.
• Expected Jan 2027 — ex-dividend date for the FY2026 final dividend. Not yet published; the FY2025 cycle had an ex-dividend date of 15 January 2026.
• Expected Feb 2027 — Annual General Meeting and Q1 FY2027 trading update. Not yet published; Compass has held both together in early February for the last three years, most recently on 5 February 2026.
• Expected Feb 2027 — FY2026 final dividend payment date. Not yet published; the FY2025 final dividend of 43.3c was paid on 26 February 2026.
• Expected May 2027 — H1 FY2027 results. Not yet published; the FY2026 half-year statement was released on 11 May 2026.

No capital markets day has been announced. The most recent investor deep dive was the Procurement Deep Dive held on 12 September 2024. Macro release dates that bear on the Business & Industry and Sports & Leisure sectors are tracked on our Economic Calendar, and you can discuss this research with other members in the ChartsView Forum.

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