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SSP Group has benefitted from fewer railway strikes in the UK to boost trading in its third quarter.
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%.
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 group revenues in the first nine months of the financial year up by 15% and by 10% on a like-for-like basis.
“Our expectations for the year, as outlined at our interim results on 21 May 2024, remain unchanged,” SSP said in the short trading update.
“We are well-positioned for the peak summer trading period and to deliver results in line with our planning assumptions for FY24.”
Revenues for the year are expected to be in a range of £3.4bn to £3.5bn, while underlying EBITDA are forecast to be somewhere from £345m to £375m.
Morning update
The FTSE 100 is up 0.3% to 8,168.07pts this morning.
Risers are led by SSP Group, which soared 10% to 171.7p on the back of the positive update posted first thing.
Other climbers included Nichols, up 2.5% to 1,066.1p, Bakkavor, up 2.4% to 149.5p, and Hilton Food Group, up 2.4% to 944p.
Science in Sport and Greencore were among the few fallers, down 1.5% to 19.2p and 0.5% to 176.3p respectively.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 posted its third consecutive day of falls on Tuesday, dropping back 0.7% to 8,137.7pts.
Naked Wines was up 2.7% to 62.7p after agreeing a new bank lending package.
Elsewhere, Tuesday’s few other risers included Haleon, up 1.5% to 331.5p, PayPoint, up 1.4% to 632p, Premier Foods, up 1.4% to 165p, Ocado, up 0.9% to 348.9p, and British American Tobacco, up 0.8% to 2,477p.
The day’s fallers included FeverTree Drinks, down 4.1% to 1,013p, C&C Group, down 2.7% to 157.4p, B&M European Value Retail, down 3.4% to 441p, Bakkavor, down 3.3% to 146p, Pets at Home, down 3.3% to 291.8p, and WH Smith, down 3% to 1,158p.
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