French catering giant Elior has announced a 16% leap in pre-tax profit to €58.1m (£39m) in the first half of 2005.
The healthy bottom line growth was on the back of 6.1% rise in sales.
A company spokesperson said: “This satisfying performance can be attributed to the dynamism of the airport markets, numerous contract wins in contract catering and good control over operating costs.”
Like-for-like contract catering sales were up 5.3% while earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) in the division held steady at €69.1m (£46.4m).
The boost in sales was due to heavy airport traffic, a favourable Easter holiday calendar and the staging of the Paris Motor Show.
The group, which owns UK-based contract caterer Avenance and Eliance Restaurants, added that increased efficiency in the supply chain offset an unfavourable education calendar in France, Spain and Italy.
New contract catering business represented annual sales of about €110m (£73.8m), including contract wins at Renault in Paris (€9m (£6m)), Tesco in the UK (€28m (£18.8m)) and the French post office (€4m (£2.7m)).
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