(MENAFN- AFP) Corporate services company Sodexo, which feeds millions daily in the company canteens it operates, said on Wednesday it sales dipped in the final quarter of 2013 due to the strength of the euro.Consolidated revenue dipped by 1.9 percent to 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in what is the first quarter of Sodexo's 2013-2014 fiscal year, due to a negative currency effect of nearly 5.0 percent.Organic growth, which strips out currency effects and acquisitions, rose by 2.7 percent, in line with the company's target range of 2.5 to 3 percent for the year."Sodexo continued to demonstrate robust organic growth in the first quarter," chief executive Michel Landel said in a statement.Sales outside Europe and North America, which includes emerging markets where currencies were hard hit last year by a shift in US monetary policy, were down by 10.1 percent to 853 million euros owing to the negative currency effect of 10.5 percent.The company confirmed its target of an 11.0-percent increase in operating profits this year and attaining a consolidated operating margin of 6.0 percent next fiscal year.Sodexo's shares rose 0.95 percent to 74.62 in afternoon trading on the Paris exchange's secondary market, which was down 0.05 percent overall.The catering giant is the world's 18th-largest employer, with 428,000 workers in 80 countries.
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