Johnson Service Group reports first-quarter revenue growth
By Josh White
Date: Thursday 01 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - Johnson Service Group delivered 6.1% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2025, it reported on Thursday, reaching £121.4m, with organic growth of 2.2% across both its hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) and workwear divisions.
The AIM-traded firm said trading was in line with expectations, as it reaffirmed its guidance for further progress in 2025.
It said the HoReCa division performed as anticipated, with volumes reflecting the later Easter holiday period.
The new Crawley processing facility started operations in March, and by the end of April, about one-third of the planned customer transfers had been completed, in line with the project schedule.
In workwear, trading was stable, with improvements in customer retention.
Management said it expected retention to return to historic levels of around 95% over the course of the year.
Bank debt rose to £84.5m at the end of March, from £68.6m in December, reflecting the timing of dividends, share buybacks, working capital flows, and capital investment.
Debt was expected to peak at around £100m by mid-year before reducing by year-end.
The group said it had so far returned £6.3m to shareholders under its £15m share buyback programme, and continued to expect gearing to remain below 1x EBITDA throughout the year.
Johnson Service Group reiterated its capital allocation priorities, including maintaining a strong balance sheet, funding estate investment, pursuing value-accretive acquisitions, and returning surplus capital to shareholders.
Looking ahead, the company said it was planning a site-based investor event at Crawley on 11 June and expected to update shareholders on a potential move to the main market by the same date.
The board said it was confident in its outlook, and reiterated its expectation to deliver an adjusted operating profit margin of at least 14% in 2026.
At 1156 BST, shares in Johnson Service Group were up 0.89% at 141.24p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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