MIDAS EXTRA UPDATE: Shares in dry-cleaner Johnson Service Group doubles since tip
By Joanne Hart, Investments Editor
PUBLISHED:22:18 GMT, 9 March 2013| UPDATED:22:18 GMT, 9 March 2013
Uniforms and dry-cleaning firm Johnson Service Group lost its way after the financial crisis. But chairman John Talbot has turned the company round and produced strong 2012 figures last week, showing a ten per cent increase in underlying profits to £16.3 million and a ten per cent rise in the dividend to 1.1p.
Midas Extra, our subscription-based online service, tipped the shares in March 2010 at 19p. They have more than doubled since to 431⁄4p and brokers believe they have further to go.
Doing well: The group also owns a facilities management business, providing cleaning for schools and hospitals
The company rents uniforms to millions of people across Britain, most of whom are given three sets of clothes.
Customers include food groups such as McVitie’s as well as industrial firms. The company supplies aprons to meat packers, too, and expects this to grow as supermarkets source more meat from the UK.
The firm’s dry-cleaning arm spent years in the doldrums and last summer Talbot decided to take firm action, closing 103 outlets and leaving 350 open. Sales and profits have risen since and prospects look bright.
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The group also owns a facilities management business, providing cleaning for schools and hospitals. This is showing steady growth.
Midas verdict: Talbot has worked wonders and is keen to expand the rental business further in sectors such as nurses’ uniforms and hospital bed linen.
Investors who bought three years ago should hold as the shares should continue to deliver. There is scope for new investors too.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/investing/article-2290790/MIDAS-EXTRA-UPDATE-Shares-dry-cleaner-Johnson-Service-Group-doubles-tip.html#ixzz2N7f1oWMq
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