Catering giant Compass is expected to announce a fall in UK sales for the past six months.

Sales for the company’s UK arm are expected to drop by 4%, with the company citing the economic downturn, extended closures over the Christmas period and the severe cold weather earlier this year as factors in the performance.

However, Compass said first-half profits across the group would be ahead of expectations when the results for the past six months are unveiled.

Global organic sales are set to increase by 2.5% for the six months to 31 March, with strong performances from the company’s education, healthcare and remote site sectors.

However, like-for-like sales from its business & industry and sports & leisure sector groups are expected to drop after being hit by falling client discretionary spend and rising unemployment.

Despite some site closure in the UK business & industry group, Compass said it was continuing to win new business at a similar rate to last year. It added that efforts to restructure the business over the past two years were now helping to improve its operational efficiency.

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