Johnson Service chairman lifts stake to 2.5%

Johnson Service Group's chairman John Talbot has splashed out around £445,000 in the dry cleaning business following strong first half results.

He took 2.4m shares in the company at just over 18.5p a time and now has about 6.2m shares, nearly 2.5% of the whole company.

The purchase came on the same day the company reported a 17% increase in half-year profit and said it is well placed for a successful second half.

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Adjusted pre-tax profit climbed to £6.2m in the six months ended 30 June 2010 compared to £5.3m a year earlier. Revenue for the period fell to £113m from £117.1m before.

Johnson said its Textile Rental business continues to be very strong while its drycleaning division should now see profit growth in the second half, the group said.

Johnson announced a shake-up at its dry cleaning arm late June with the closure of 20 loss-making branches. The restructuring is expected to cost £6.5m over the next five years.

Talbot said he believed the group is 'well placed for a successful second half,' despite challenging market conditions.