SSP Group shares received a double-digit boost this week after its third quarter trading was helped by fewer railway strikes in the UK and improved consumer sentiment.

The Upper Crust operator said in a trading update that it had started the second half of its financial year “well”, with positive momentum from the first six months continuing in Q3.

Revenues increased 15% in the three months to 30 June, with like-for-like sales up 6% and net contract gains and M&A contributing 5% each.

In the UK, sales jumped 12%, and by 8% on a like-for-like basis, thanks to “good” passenger numbers at airports and a lower incidence of industrial action on the railways compared with the same period a year earlier.

Numbers in North America and Asia Pacific were both boosted by acquisitions, with sales in the former up 27% and by 33% in the latter.

It pushed total group revenues in the first nine months of the financial year up by 15% and by 10% on a like-for-like basis.

Despite the stronger-than-expected first-half sales performance, it said expectations for the year were unchanged, with revenues for the year expected to be £3.4bn-£3.5bn and underlying EBITDA forecast to be between £345m to £375m.

Shore Capital noted that the third quarter performance meant it needed to achieve only modest like-for-like growth over the summer period to hit forecasts. It added: “Against the context of recent share price weakness, we would see today’s update as reassuring, with the current depressed valuation failing to capture the embedded growth built into forecasts and the longer-term potential in this structurally attractive market.”

Panmure Liberum called the results a “reassuring trading update”, which should “soothe market fears and lead to a reduction in leverage”. The broker noted that investors were “unnerved” by an the increase in debt from £392m to £619m to fund acquisitions and a reduction in leverage will be “a key catalyst to rebuilding confidence in the growth strategy”.

SSP Group shares were up 10.4% to 172.6p on Wednesday and by a further 2.9% to 177.6p on Thursday morning – the highest level since mid-May. However, the shares are still down 22.5% year-to-date and by almost 30% year on year.

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