Chairman's AGM Statement

Compass Group PLC
10 February 2006

10 February 2006

                  Compass Group PLC: Chairman's AGM Statement

Compass Group holds its AGM today at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London, at
11:00am. At this meeting Sir Francis Mackay, Chairman of Compass Group PLC, will
provide shareholders with the following update:

Current Trading and Outlook

In the first four months of the year, overall the Group is trading in line with
expectations. Net new business (new business less lost business) is developing
as we had planned. We are seeing good success in new contract wins and as we
have previously discussed, we are continuing to exit or renegotiate contracts
that do not meet our financial criteria. The Group has substantially completed
the restructuring programme announced in 2005 and remains on track to deliver
the targeted £50 million of overhead cost savings. Tight cost control will
continue to be a central feature of the Group going forward.

Trading has remained strong in the first four months of the year in North
America, driven by new contract wins across all of the primary business sectors.
In the UK, the primary business sectors are trading in line with our
expectations, with the State Education sector continuing to be the most
challenging.

In Continental Europe, our management teams continue to focus on improving
client retention and tighter cost management. The early results of this focus
are in line with our expectations.

In the Rest of the World, the planned scale back of our presence in the Middle
East military business is proceeding as anticipated, with profits expected to be
no more than £5 million in the full year as previously communicated. The
remainder of the Rest of the World business has continued to perform well in the
first four months, particularly the remote site sector in Australasia and our
businesses in South America.

Sale of Travel Concessions Business

The Group announced on 28 September 2005 its decision to sell its Travel
Concessions business, primarily Select Service Partner (SSP). We continue to see
good growth in the underlying business, particularly in Europe. The sale process
is progressing well and we are encouraged by the level of interest. The sale
process remains on schedule for completion by mid-2006.

Management

The process to recruit a new Group Chief Executive, led by Sir Roy Gardner and
the Nominations Committee remains ongoing and we are making good progress.

2006 Calendar

In advance of announcing the interim results on 16 May 2006, the group will
provide its customary pre-close trading update at 7:00am on 28 March 2006.

Michael J Bailey, Chief Executive, said:

'This is very much a case of 'steady as she goes'. Trading in the first four
months is in line with our expectations and we are pleased with our performance
in both winning new business and in retaining existing contracts.'

ENDS

Enquiries:

Compass Group PLC     [phone]
Investors/Analysts:   Andrew Martin
Media:                Paul Kelly

Website
www.compass-group.com



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