SSP Group (LON:SSPG) Issues Earnings Results

SSP Group (LON:SSPG) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported GBX (2) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. SSP Group had a negative return on equity of 59.21% and a negative net margin of 2.04%.The business had revenue of GBX 176.34 billion for the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from SSP Group’s conference call:

• SSP reported a resilient first half, with revenue up 6% to £1.8 billion, underlying operating profit up 18% to £50 million, and EPS turning positive at £0.011 versus a loss last year.
• Management said it is on track to exceed 3% operating margin in Continental Europe this year, helped by contract resets, cost actions, and a significant reduction in operating losses.
• The company reiterated its focus on cash generation and working capital, targeting more than £100 million of free cash flow before dividends and buybacks for FY2026 despite first-half seasonal outflows.
• North America showed strong progress, with improved like-for-like sales, tighter overheads, and a 40% reduction in minority interest charge, which management said should boost the share of profits accruing to SSP shareholders.
• The company warned that the Middle East conflict is weighing on Asia-Pacific/EMEA trading and creates uncertainty for the second half, though SSP said its diversified portfolio leaves most of the business largely unaffected so far.

SSP Group Trading Up 2.3%

SSPG opened at GBX 159.10 on Tuesday. SSP Group has a 52 week low of GBX 137.30 and a 52 week high of GBX 212.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2,629.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of GBX 176.40 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 179.11. The stock has a market cap of £1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -17.11, a PEG ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 0.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 180 price target on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of SSP Group from GBX 360 to GBX 350 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Shore Capital Group reissued a “house stock” rating on shares of SSP Group in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 230 price target on shares of SSP Group in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SSP Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 244.50.

About SSP Group

SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.37,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 36 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of more than 550 international, national and local brands. These include our own brands (such as UrbanCrave, which brought the first “street eats” concept to airports in the US, Nippon Ramen, a noodle and dumpling concept in the Asia Pac region, and Juniper, a premium bar in the UK) as well as franchise brands (such as M&S, Starbucks and Burger King).