Pluxee Revenue Beats Forecasts, Shares Up 6%
Pluxee NV, the employee‑benefits spin‑off of Sodexo, announced fiscal third‑quarter results that showed revenue of €312 million, surpassing the €299 million consensus estimate and exceeding the highest analyst forecast of €306 million from a 12‑analyst poll dated 18 June. Operating revenue reached €270 million, also above the consensus range of €242‑267 million.
Organic revenue declined 3.3% year‑on‑year, a smaller drop than the 4.3% decline anticipated by analysts, indicating the company absorbed the initial impact of Brazil’s PAT1 reform—a regulatory cap on merchant discount rates and a shortened payment cycle that began on 1 March. The CFO, Stéphane Abrioux, warned that the Brazil impact will intensify sharply in the current quarter, stating that “in Q4, the impact will be… twice the impact that we had in Q3 for Brazil,” and that the first two quarters of fiscal 2027 will also experience a larger hit.
Jefferies analysts, who maintain a “hold” rating with a €11.90 price target, attributed the earnings beat primarily to the timing of the Brazil regulatory impact and favourable foreign‑exchange trends, notably Turkish hyperinflation accounting. They observed that float revenue continued to surprise, growing 2% sequentially.
Chief executive Aurélien Sonet highlighted the launch of Pluxee’s “open arrangement,” an open‑loop payment infrastructure in Brazil introduced in mid‑May, which is now onboarding merchant acquirers, though volumes are still shifting. He described the early results as encouraging but cautioned that competitive fallout from the reform remains uncertain.
Business volume issued rose 9.4% organically to €6.6 billion, while new‑client development was about 20% ahead of the prior year, reaching €1.2 billion on an annualised basis and already tracking above the group’s full‑year target of over €1.3 billion. Float revenue increased 2.8% organically to €42 million, supported by elevated interest rates; however, full‑year float growth is now expected to be only “slightly positive” because of fewer rate cuts than anticipated in Brazil and Turkey.
Continental Europe showed softness, with Sonet citing cautious hiring and delayed pass‑through of higher meal‑voucher face‑value caps in France, Germany and Romania, partially offset by resilience in Southern Europe. In France, a parliamentary bill submitted in June proposes full digitisation of meal vouchers and a ban on client discounts, with debate slated for after the summer recess.
In Chile, the antitrust authority is reviewing historical conduct in the employee‑benefits market predating 2021; Sonet said the investigation is at an early stage and could take several years, with Pluxee fully cooperating.
Capital allocation since the 2024 spin‑off has been balanced across capex, M&A and shareholder returns, with roughly €200 million deployed toward each pillar, including a completed €100 million share buyback. Any further shareholder returns will be decided by the board after fiscal 2026 closes.
Pluxee reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 guidance, projecting stable organic total revenue, a modest expansion in recurring EBITDA margin, and recurring cash conversion of around 80% on average over fiscal 2024‑2026. Jefferies estimates that meeting this guidance could see fourth‑quarter organic revenue contract by up to 12% and second‑half margins potentially decline by as much as 200 basis points to 34.8%.