Dry cleaner and workwear provider Johnson Service reported a 5 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £6.5m in the first half despite encountering difficult trading conditions and fluctuating consumer spending.
There was an improvement across all sectors of the business as dry cleaning operating profits rose 20 per cent to £0.6m on falling revenues; textile rental saw modest improvements in revenue and profits edged up to £7.7m; and facilities management, which provides maintenance for commercial buildings under the SGP brand, reported profits up 25 per cent to £2m.
Cash flow remains strong, which helped reduce net debt to £51m from £60m at the start of the year, and enabled the board to raise the half-year payout by 22 per cent. And the pension deficit fell to £3.2m from £11.2m at the end of December, helped by a significant accounting gain.
Broker Investec expects 2011 pre-tax profits of £15.5m and EPS of 4.3p (from £14.5m and 4.1p in 2010), but now only expects a flat performance in 2012.
JOHNSON SERVICE (JSG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 31p | MARKET VALUE: | £77.8m | |
| TOUCH: | 30.5-32p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 36p | LOW: 20p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.9% | PE RATIO: | 9 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 32p | NET DEBT: | 63% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 113 | -2.2 | -0.7 | 0.27 |
| 2011 | 117 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 0.33 |
| % change | +4 | - | - | +22 |
Ex-div: 12 Oct Payment: 11 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £97m, or 39p a share | ||||
