Sales at Sodexho UK & Ireland remain down on last year but growth in the Ministry of Defence sector is starting to bring about an improvement.
Parent company Sodexho Alliance said today that UK & Ireland revenues for the first nine months of its current financial year - the period to 31 May - were down by 3.3% on the same period a year earlier at €1.09b (£758m).
The company said this was mainly the result of the economic slowdown affecting the business & industry sector, the renegotiation of some contracts by the new management team, and the termination of unprofitable contracts in the hotels sector.
But Sodexho added that it had "enjoyed good growth in the defence sector".
The company's performance was better elsewhere in the world.
In North America sales rose by 3.5% to €4.3b (£3b), in Continental Europe they were up by 3.3% to €2.7b (£1.9b), and in the rest of the world they increased by 5.3% to €354m (£246m).
Globally, organic sales during the quarter climbed by 2.6% to €8.43b.