UK. Leading travel food & beverage player SSP Group today issued a trading update for the quarter and year ended 30 September, with full-year revenue expected to hit £3.8 billion (US$5.03 billion), up +5% year-on-year.
The company remains on track to deliver full-year earnings per share of around 14 pence, up +18% year-on-year, despite the impact of the Middle East conflict on its APAC & EEME region since the end of February.
SSP also announced the launch of a further share buyback programme of up to £50 million (US$66 million), with leverage expected to return towards the lower end of its medium-term target range of 1.5-2.0x.
The structured recovery plan for Continental Europe is proceeding, with regional operating profit margin expected to rise to around 3% in FY26 from 2.2% in the prior year.
Free cash flow (post-interest) is expected to be around £70 million (US$92.6 million), with no incremental supply chain financing year-on-year.
SSP Group CEO Patrick Coveney said: “We have delivered a resilient Q4 trading performance in a challenging environment. Despite the significant impact of the Middle East conflict on passenger volumes in APAC & EEME, the strength and diversification of our portfolio leaves us well-positioned to deliver group earnings per share for the year in line with current market expectations.
“Through our ‘Focus26’ plan, we have driven sustainable improvements in operational performance across the Group. Notably, we are making good progress turning around performance in France and Germany. We expect to deliver a step up in operating margin for the year in the region as a whole to around 3% and are setting the region up for continued growth in margin and cash generation.
“We are making significant progress embedding stronger and sustainable cash generation across the business. While we expect free cash flow to land modestly below our prior expectation for FY26, we expect to drive a very material year-on-year underlying improvement. Given this, in combination with our leverage returning towards the lower end of our target range, we are pleased to be announcing a £50 million share buyback programme today, in line with our capital allocation priorities.”
Q4 revenue performance
Group sales from 1 July to 30 September rose +4% year-on-year on a constant currency basis including like-for-like sales (LFL) growth of +4%. This was despite the continuing impact of subdued passenger numbers in APAC & EEME, reflecting a strong performance across the rest of the group, particularly in the UK.
In the UK & Ireland, sales rose by +5% year-on-year with LFL sales growth of +9% supported by “strong summer trading and the strength of our customer proposition”. Net losses of -3% in the quarter reflected an impact from scheduled airport redevelopments.
In North America, SSP delivered +2% LFL sales growth in the quarter, outperforming the market. Net gains of +2% largely reflected an increase in the number of restaurants across the existing airport footprint in the region.
In Continental Europe, sales remained stable overall, but with like-for-like sales growth of +3%. SSP closed its final MSA unit in Germany in the quarter. SSP said in a statement that it expects to achieve a step up in operating margin in the region in the year from 2.2% to about 3% amid a multi-year improvement plan.
In APAC & EEME, LFL sales rose by +1% including an impact from lower passenger numbers in the Gulf and in key travel hubs across the region since the start of the Middle East conflict.
SSP said, “While passenger volumes in the Gulf markets have rebounded strongly quarter-on-quarter to now trade at 90% of prior year levels, traffic in the surrounding Eastern Mediterranean, Asia Pacific and Indian regions continued to reflect lower local and connecting passenger volumes across the network.”
For the full year, group revenue was around £3.8 billion as noted, up +5% year-on-year on a constant currency basis, comprising like-for-like sales growth of about +4% and net contract gains of around +1%.
SSP said operating profit is expected to be slightly lower than planned at around £230 million including an impact from subdued North American passenger numbers through the summer.
At net income level, the impact should be offset by lower than planned minority interests, as it makes progress with a programme of actions to optimise its JV partnership model, particularly in North America.
Free cash flow for the full-year (post interest) is expected to total around £70 million with no incremental usage of supply chain financing year-on-year, as noted above. This would represent a £140-150 million improvement in underlying cash generation year-on-year.
Capital investment in the year was around £170 million (US$225 million) reflecting a positive timing effect from certain projects being rescheduled into FY27.
There is an expected currency impact on revenue and operating profit of around +0.3% and -1.6% respectively, compared to the average rates used for 2025, which is broadly unchanged since SSP’s Q3 statement.
FY26 full year results will be released on 8 December. 
