Johnson profits soar to £33.8m thanks to string of acquisitions

Strategic acquisitions have helped Cheshire-based laundry company Johnson Service Group to a 45% increase in pre-tax profits to £33.8m and a 36% revenue boost to £256.7m.

The listed company has benefited from its purchases of Zip Textiles, Afonwen and Chester Textiles in the first half, significantly increasing the its presence in the high volume hotel linen rental market in the year to December 31.

All the acquisitions were immediately earnings enhancing and have expanded the group’s geographic reach, it said.

The company disposed of Drycleaning in January to Timpsons (classified as discontinued operations), in line with its strategy to focus on higher margin textile rental activities.

Meanwhile, adjusted fully diluted earnings per share were up 31% to 7.6p.

Chief executive Chris Sander said: “These are strong results, with profit delivery ahead of original market expectations, reflecting both encouraging organic growth and the benefits of recent acquisitions.

“These acquisitions have expanded our geographic coverage and helped to further build our presence in specific market segments, especially high volume linen.  We expect further benefits to come from our acquisitions as we complete the integration and investment programme.

“Looking ahead, the group is very well positioned for the new financial year and performance to date has been in line with our expectations.

“The disposal of Drycleaning in January leaves us focused on driving the growth of our higher margin Textile Rental activities and we will continue to look at further complementary acquisitions and investment opportunities.”