Compass, the world's largest private catering group, has been threatened with a downgrade to its credit rating by Moody's, the international rating agency, after it warned on profits and said it would need £200m (€292m) more working capital than it thought this financial year.

Moody's put Compass's Baa1 credit rating under review and said if it went ahead with a downgrade it would probably be limited to one notch. The group's credit rating is three notches into investment grade territory.