By Mathias de Rozario
(Reuters) -French voucher and benefits company Pluxee raised its margin guidance for the next two years on Thursday after what it described as a solid performance this year.
The company’s shares were 10% higher by 1200 GMT, on track for their biggest ever one-day rise.
Pluxee is now targeting recurring growth in its margin on core earnings of 75 basis points for the 2025 and 2026 financial years, and said it would reach its three-year target of a 250 bps organic increase one year ahead of plan.
The former Sodexo division now expects recurring cash conversion above 75% on average over the 2024–2026 period, compared to above 70% previously announced.
“In 2024, we had to increase investments and strengthen our structure, so a large part of the operating leverage was absorbed… to strengthen our fundamentals, whereas in ’25 and ’26 we expect a much greater impact,” CEO Aurelien Sonet said on a call with journalists.
For its first year as a standalone company, Pluxee’s recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation totalled 430 million euros ($466.6 million) compared with 426 million euros in a company-provided consensus.
The number of contracts signed reached a new high, totalling 1.6 billion euros in fiscal 2024, which ran to Aug. 31.
“This underlines both the commercial momentum and the dynamism of our commercial engine,” the CEO said.
The loss of a student benefits contract in Chile however had a significant impact in the fourth quarter on the Latin America region, representing 38.4% of the group’s operating revenue, Sonet said.
The impact will continue until end-December, he added.
He said Pluxee will continue its mergers and acquisitions strategy in 2025 to strengthen its position outside its meal vouchers core business.
The acquisitions of Spain’s Cobee and its Brazilian partnership with Santander are expected to be accretive respectively from 2026 and 2025.
Sonet said an Italian proposal to cap meal voucher commissions at 5% would not affect Pluxee’s medium-term guidance.
(Reporting by Mathias de Rozario; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Kirsten Donovan and Jan Harvey)
