Catering giant Compass announces profits rise

Catering company Compass, which has several operations in Ireland, said half-year pre-tax profits rose 8% to £611m (€719.2m).

Growth in North America and emerging markets helped revenues improve 4% to £8.8bn (€10.35bn).

Revenues in the Europe and Japan division were down 3.6% on a like-for-like basis at £3.1bn (€3.64bn).

The company employs more than 500,000 people worldwide.