Aramark earnings rose above forecasts, sees revenue approaching pre-COVID levels by end of next year

Aramark /zigman2/quotes/204468030/composite ARMK +1.76% reported Tuesday a big fiscal fourth-quarter profit beat and revenue that rose above forecasts. Although the food, facilities and uniform services company still expects a negative COVID impact of an estimated $1.6 billion to $1.9 billion in fiscal 2022, revenue should approach pre-COVID levels by the end of the year, helped by new business and pricing pass throughs. The company swung to net income of $35.4 million, or 14 cents a share, from a loss of $148.6 million, or 59 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share rose to 56 cents from 21 cents, well above the FactSet consensus of 19 cents. Revenue grew 31.9% to $3.55 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.29 billion, as U.S. food and support services (FSS) revenue grew 51.4% to $2.16 billion and uniform and career apparel revenue slipped 1.7%. International FSS revenue increased 21.6% to $765 million. Aramark's stock, which was still inactive in premarket trading, has slipped 1.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +1.44% has gained 24.7%.