Oct 19 (Reuters) - Edenred expects its 2023 core profit to come at the upper end of its forecast range, the French vouchers provider said on Thursday, but warned some recent competition watchdog suggestions could be hard to implement.

Inflation and labour shortages have boosted the results of Edenred, known for its "Ticket Restaurant" vouchers, and other benefits providers such as French rival Sodexo, as employers sought to support workers with more gift vouchers or fuel cards.

Edenred shares, which are down around 12% since the news on potential fee caps on French meal vouchers came out earlier in October, fell 3% at 0929 GMT.

French competition watchdog on Tuesday said capping voucher providers' fees might not be the best approach for the sector, but called for a removal of issuers' exclusive right to determine where vouchers issued by them are accepted to restore the power balance in the market.

According to the French watchdog, the government could make restaurant vouchers from different issuers interchangeable and retailers would be able to hand over all meal vouchers received in payment to an intermediary of their choice.

"It's not easy to see how this kind of recommendation could be implemented," finance chief Julien Tanguy told analysts.

Tanguy said the proposed set up would make handling of payments and their settlement far more complicated for the issuers.

Meal voucher market in France is highly concentrated, with four players - Edenred, Sodexo, Bimpli-Swile and Up Coop - controlling more than 99% of the sector in 2022, the competition authority said.

Edenred expects to reach the upper half of its target range for 2023 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) set at 1.02 billion to 1.09 billion euros ($1.07 billion to $1.15 billion) announced in July. ($1 = 0.9489 euros) (Reporting by Diana Mandiá and Mariana Abreu; Editing by Josie Kao, Milla Nissi and Tomasz Janowski)