Published last Friday, Sodexo's interim results do not, however, give cause for panic, even though they include a 9.7% y-o-y drop in operating profit.

MarketScreener treats the adjusted operating profit at the top of the group's press releases with caution, which includes growth of 6.4%. Virtual growth, since this profit does not include €41m in restructuring costs.

Also noteworthy is a substantial €815m rise in net debt, more seasonal than structural, and linked not to an increase in debt but to the payment of the dividend and acquisitions - above all that of CRH Catering.

The market has sent Sodexo's valuation back to its historic low of 15x earnings. In February, the Bellon family holding company - which controls the group, with 44% of its capital and 59% of its voting rights - announced its intention to invest a further €100m in its capital.

Given the exceptional stability of its results, investors have always treated the group, which was founded by the charismatic Pierre Bellon, with respect, chaired by his daughter Sophie since 2016 and formally headed by her since 2022.

The Group has enjoyed slow but steady growth over the last two cycles - 2005-2014 and 2015-2024 - punctuated at the end of the sequence by the aftermath of the pandemic. However, the first period was smoother than the second.

Between 2005 and 2014, sales rose from €11.7bn to €18bn - an annualized rate of 4.9% - while operating profit doubled thanks to a healthy expansion of margins, and net debt remained negligible.

The dynamic changes between 2015 and 2024, as sales rise from €19.8bn to €24.8bn - an annualized rate of 2.5% - while operating profit was hit badly and net debt rises sharply... and then came the pandemic...

Over the last decade, Sodexo has generated €7bn in free cash flow after acquisitions, and returned €5.5bn to shareholders via €4.2bn in dividends and €1.2bn in share buybacks. This compares with a market capitalization of €8bn.