Compass Group PLC (LSE:CPG) shares shot up as the catering company said it was trading close to pre-pandemic levels, as arenas and university halls fill up again.
Half-year operating profit recovered to £638mln from the pandemic-squished £168mln a year ago, with strong growth across all sectors and revenue up 38% to £11.6bn.
In the second quarter to end-March, the FTSE 100 group said underlying revenue had reached 99% of the level from pre-pandemic 2019, with the run rate "now above our pre-COVID level".
Client retention was said to be at its highest ever rate at 95.8%, with record new business wins of £2.5bn over the last 12 months.
Net debt of £2.5bn was at 1.3 times underlying profits, back within management’s target range.
Full-year profit margin guidance has been left unchanged, although the organic revenue growth estimate was nudged higher to a possible 30% from 20-25% before.
The shares jumped 10% to 1,736p in the first hour of trading on Wednesday.