Compass, which serves workers at Google and Shell as well as schools, old-age homes and the armed forces, said it had taken various measures to "resize" its business and cut costs, including furloughing workers and trimming its workforce.

The company declined to say how many jobs had been lost but said changes made so far would help save around 280 million pounds in annual "in-unit labour costs" - a measure of productivity - and build margins back to above 7%, from the 2.9% for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

"Although the prospects of a vaccine are encouraging, the resumption of lockdowns in some of our major markets shows that we have to continue to take proactive actions to control the controllable," Chief Executive Dominic Blakemore said.

Shares in the FTSE 100 company, which have lost a quarter of their value so far this year, were up 5% at 1016 GMT, with analysts citing the margin forecast.

Compass has seen its margins shrink during the pandemic, as the number of students and office workers eating at its cafeterias plunged. It bolstered its finances with a 2 billion pound capital raise in May.

Blakemore told Reuters it was difficult to predict how fast revenues would recover, adding that its first-quarter meals volumes would be similar to that of the fourth.

Compass, which employs around 600,000 people across 45 countries, said its annual pretax profit came in at 427 million pounds ($569.75 million) for the year ended Sept. 30, compared with 1.74 billion pounds last year.

Revenue for the year fell nearly 19% to 20.2 billion pounds.

Compass' French rival Sodexo said last month it planned to lay off 2,083 people as it forecast a further slump in revenue.

($1 = 0.7495 pounds)

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Pravin Char)

By Yadarisa Shabong