According to the company, this is largely due to ‘excellent’ growth in North America (organic revenue up 7.8%) and ‘strong’ net new business in the UK. Rest of the world (ROW) saw organic revenue increase by 2.9% also.
Focusing on the EU, Compass said organic revenue ‘accelerated’ in H2 ‘as expected’ – up 2.1% for the full year – which reflects improving net new business, especially in the UK, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
North America meanwhile delivered a ‘very strong’ performance, with organic revenue up +7.8% to £13.8m (compared to £13.3m in 2017).
This saw the region generate 59.3% of the group’s total revenue, the EU 24.9% and ROW 15.8%.
Chief executive Dominic Blakemore said: “Compass had another very strong year. Revenue growth was healthy, driven by excellent growth in North America, an acceleration in Europe and good progress in Rest of World.
“We continue to drive operating efficiencies around the business and were able to move the margin slightly forward, with improvements in ROW offsetting a more difficult volume and cost environment in Europe, especially the UK.
“Given the excellent cash generation and overall strength of the group, we have invested in the business to support the exciting long term growth opportunities we see. We are also making progress with our strategy to focus on performance, people and purpose.
“We are actively managing the portfolio to increase our focus on food and are in the process of disposing of up to 5% of revenues in non-core businesses. We continually look at bolt-on acquisition opportunities that strengthen our offer and meet our strict returns criteria.
“Our expectations for 2019 are positive. The pipeline of new contracts is strong and our focus on organic growth, efficiencies and cash gives us confidence in achieving another year of progress.
“We expect organic growth to be in the middle of our 4-6% range with modest margin progression.
“In the longer term, we remain excited about the significant structural growth opportunities globally, the potential for further revenue growth and margin improvement, combined with further returns to shareholders.”