Johnson hit by rental weakness

Workwear-to-dry cleaning company Johnson Service Group slumped into the red today after enduring a poor performance at its linen rental business.

The Liverpool-based firm said Stalbridge, which supplies linen to the premium hotel, catering and corporate hospitality sector, had “undergone a miserable period”, contributing to a substantial drop in operating profits.

Pre-tax losses for the six months to June 30 came in at £13.8m (€20.3m), compared to a profit of £15.7m (€23.1m) last year, after the group was forced to write down £15.9m (€23.4m) from a new IT system and took a £3.6m (€5.3m) hit from the loss in value of linen stocks at Stalbridge.