It says that all regions ‘continue to perform well’, with net new business growth accelerating in the third quarter, while pricing moderated in line with inflation.
Europe’s sales growth of 12% led the way, as sales accelerated from the second quarter. All regions were ahead of expectations, with North America up 9.9% and the rest of the world up 8.3%.
The company said: “Volumes continued to benefit from the quality of our offer and the value gap compared to the high street. We are continuing to invest in our portfolio, as we replicate our North America blueprint elsewhere, to support our existing capabilities, increase operational flexibility and further strengthen our unique sectorised approach to the market.”
The group’s net expenditure on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including CH&CO and the disposal of its Brazilian business, which were completed in May 2024, was US$836m (£648m) for the year to date.
It reported that it had completed about US$300m (£232m) of the US$500m (£387m) share buyback programme announced in November 2023, with the remainder to be completed before the end of the calendar year.
Compass concludes: “We are pleased with our third quarter performance. The group delivered good growth across all regions and benefited from improved net new business in line with our expectations. For the full year we now expect underlying operating profit growth to be above 15% on a constant-currency basis, with organic revenue growth above 10%.”