(Reuters) - French food caterer Sodexo expects its organic growth to slow down to between 5.5% and 6.5% in the 2025 financial year, it said on Thursday after reporting slightly higher than expected growth for the year through Aug. 31.

The group, which spun off its voucher business Pluxee in February and is now fully focused on its catering business, added growth would be driven by new contract wins, pricing and positive volume growth.

It reported annual organic sales growth of 7.9% for the fiscal 2024, ahead of analysts' estimate of 7.8% seen in a company-provided consensus.

Sodexo also forecast an underlying operating profit margin improvement of 30-40 basis points at a constant currency basis, compared to 4.7% in the prior year.

(Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)