
Sodexo cuts 2025 guidance on slower growth in North America
"While our industry fundamentals remain strong, in North America the continued soft trend in volumes in Education and slower than expected net new ramp-up in Healthcare have impacted our ability to meet initial expectations," CEO and Chairwoman Sophie Bellon said in a statement.
The group now sees 2025 organic revenue growth of between 3% and 4%, from between 5.5% and 6.5% previously, and an underlying operating margin increase of 10 to 20 basis points, down from a rise of 30 to 40 bps guided previously.

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Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Hugo Ekitike joins Liverpool in £79m deal as Reds continue spending spree
Liverpool have completed the £79m deal to sign Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. The France under-21 striker has signed a six-year deal to keep him at Anfield until 2031. Liverpool beat Newcastle to landing the 23-year-old front man but were confident they were always leading the race and did not make a late move. They have been considering a swoop for him since January, held talks with his camp around then and boss Arne Slot spoke to the player at the end of the season. Ekitike scored 22 goals last season in all competitions but there's belief within Liverpool that he can surpass those numbers significantly to become a deadly striker and one of the best in the world because of his other statistics. The deal is £69m up front with a further £10m in add ons. The data they have used to decide on the significant investment gives them confidence more goals will come. Newcastle striker Alexander Isak was considered more of a guaranteed success but the Magpies insist he's not for sale. Data shows only Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe had better potential than Ekitike at 23 in recent years. Manchester United did make a late move to sign the French forward with Christopher Vivell contacting Eintracht Frankfurt sporting director Markus Krosche but the player was only interested in Liverpool. Liverpool didn't enter the negotiation until Newcastle had nearly agreed a deal as they didn't want a bidding war. The Reds see Ekitike as a No 9 who can also play deeper and wide to make him a versatile option. Ekitike completed his move in London and will now fly to Asia to link up with his new team-mates in Hong Kong. The deal takes Liverpool's spending to just shy of £300m. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Dollar falls against yen as markets weigh new trade deal, Japanese politics
LONDON/NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Swiss franc and euro but weakened versus the yen on Wednesday as positive sentiment from a new U.S. trade deal was offset by political uncertainty surrounding Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's future. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal on Tuesday with Japan, which lowers tariffs on auto imports to 15% in exchange for a $550 billion package of U.S.-bound investment and loans. It is the most significant of a clutch of agreements that Trump has bagged since unveiling sweeping global levies in April. The dollar gained against the Swiss franc , on track to snap three straight sessions of losses. It was last up 0.24% to 0.79425. Wall Street's main indexes were all advancing while U.S. Treasury yields rose. The greenback weakened against the yen , hitting its lowest level since July 11 at 146.20 per dollar after reports that Ishiba intends to step down next month following a bruising upper house election defeat. Ishiba denied the reports that he had decided to resign, calling them "completely unfounded." The yen was last down 0.06% at 146.565 yen. "The main thing driving USD/JPY has to do with political anxiety as it looks like the prime minister is feeling some pressure to consider resigning," Juan Perez, senior director of trading at Monex USA in Washington, told Reuters in a statement. "This deal helps automakers, for now, but leaves markets also wondering if at any point tariffs can be increased since they will not go away as tools for negotiating anything and everything. Japan, an advanced economy agreeing to new terms for trade does leave concern that successful tariff use will give incentive to keep using their threat." The European Union and the U.S. are heading towards a trade deal that would result in a broad tariff of 15% on EU goods imported into the U.S., two diplomats told Reuters. The deal would mirror a similar agreement the U.S. struck with Japan. The euro pared earlier losses and was up 0.08% against the dollar at $1.176250, . The U.S. dollar has been one of the biggest losers among major currencies since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on trading partners on April 2. The weakness continued as those duties were suspended to allow further negotiations, but has steadied this month. The August 1 deadline for tariff deals still looms for many countries and investors remain cautious on how it will play out. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.14% to 97.33, on track for four straight sessions of losses. "I think what the market is expecting is that there will be a blanket tariff of a certain amount: let's just say 10% or so, and that has been set in place for quite a while. And I believe that it's discounted," said Jeff Young, head of investment strategy, at PGIM Quantitative Solutions in New Jersey. "The effect on the dollar is going to be ... folded into the overall macro picture. And I think it's going to be difficult to disentangle the exact impact of the tariff versus all the other things that are affecting the currency because I do think that a lot of that is pretty much already discounted." Sterling was up 0.26% at $1.35690 . The Aussie hit an eight-month high and was last up 0.4% at U.S.$0.6584.


Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: Chinese engines, shipped as 'cooling units', power Russian drones used in Ukraine
July 23 (Reuters) - Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labelled as "industrial refrigeration units" to avoid detection in the wake of Western sanctions, according to three European security officials and documents reviewed by Reuters. The shipments have allowed Russian weapons-maker IEMZ Kupol to increase its production of the Garpiya-A1 attack drone, despite the U.S. and E.U. sanctions imposed in October designed to disrupt its supply chain, according to the sources and documents, which included contracts, invoices and customs paperwork. An internal Kupol document, reviewed by Reuters, showed it signed a contract with the Russian defence ministry to produce more than 6,000 Garpiya this year, up from 2,000 in 2024. The document stated that more than 1,500 drones had already been delivered by April. The long-range drone is being deployed to attack civilian and military targets deep within Ukrainian territory, with around 500 being used by Russia per month, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said in a statement to Reuters. The European security officials asked that neither they nor their organisation be identified due to the sensitivity of the information. They also requested some specific details in the documents be withheld, such as their dates and the cost of contracts. In September, Reuters reported that Kupol was producing the Garpiya using Chinese technology, including L550E engines made by Xiamen Limbach Aviation Engine Co. A month after the Reuters' report, the European Union and the U.S. sanctioned several companies involved in producing the drones, including Xiamen. In the wake of the sanctions, a new Chinese firm called Beijing Xichao International Technology and Trade has started supplying the L550E engines to Kupol, according to invoices, a Kupol internal letter and transportation documents reviewed by Reuters. The increase in production of Garpiya as well as the new intermediaries supplying parts for the drones are reported by Reuters for the first time. The news agency could not determine how Xichao obtained the engines from the maker Xiamen Limbach. Xiamen Limbach did not respond to a request for comment and Reuters was unable to reach Xichao. IEMZ Kupol, Russia's trade and industry ministry and the defence ministry also did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement to Reuters, China's foreign ministry said it was unaware of the export of parts for the Garpiya and it has controlled foreign sales of dual-use goods in line with China's own laws and international obligations. "China has always opposed unilateral sanctions that lack basis in international law and are not authorized by the U.N. Security Council," the statement said. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the U.S. and E.U. have repeatedly imposed sanctions on companies in third-party countries, including China, alleged to have provided dual-use technology to Russia. Kupol has been sanctioned since December 2022 by the EU and December 2023 by the U.S. for its involvement in Russia's defence sector. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to travel to China for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, amid tensions over Beijing's support for Russia's war effort. The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 2 that Chinese firms' support for Russia in the war posed a threat to European security and she urged China to cease trade that sustains Russia's military machine, the EU said in a statement. Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese security and defence policy at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said China's prime concern was to help sustain Russia's war effort to ensure the United States remained focused on Ukraine. "This does not help China and Europe come closer together, diplomatically," she said. China says it imposes strict controls on the export of drones and their parts and has never provided either side of the war in Ukraine with lethal weapons. A person familiar with Beijing's thinking on the issue said that China produces around 75% of world's drones, with the majority not for military purposes; if Russia was using them as weapons, then the same was also true of Ukraine, the person added. Ahead of Thursday's summit, one European official said the EU was not asking China to cut economic ties with Russia but to strengthen customs and financial controls to reduce the flow of specific dual-use goods. The Garpiya, which means harpy in Russian, is based on the Iranian-made Shahed drones but relies on Chinese technology, the three European sources said. The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said the Chinese-made components in the drone included the engine, control systems, and navigation equipment. The engines were shipped by Xichao to a Russian front company identified as SMP-138, which then forwarded them to a second Russian firm LIBSS, according to another internal Kupol document, seen by Reuters. Abram Goldman, registered as the owner of SMP-138, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. LIBSS also did not respond to Reuters' questions. A contract for LIBSS to supply Kupol with the engines, reviewed by Reuters, stated they would be described as cooling units in shipping documents because of their sensitivity. The delivery route was from Beijing to Moscow then to Izhevsk, where Kupol has manufacturing facilities. Describing them as cooling units allowed the goods to be exported to Russia without alerting Chinese authorities, the three security officials said. Transportation documents reviewed by Reuters showed that Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines ( opens new tab, China's largest carrier, had transported components for the drones to sanctioned Russian companies since October. China Southern did not respond to Reuters' questions and Sichuan could not be reached for comment.