Johnson Service Group (JSG) H1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Revenue rose 5.5% year-over-year to £257.5m, with organic growth of 1.4% in HoReCa and 1.3% in Workwear.

• Margin improvement initiatives are on track for a 14% adjusted operating profit margin by 2026.

• New Crawley site operational, supporting capacity, growth, and sustainability.

• Workwear customer retention at 94%, nearly back to historic highs, with strong new business momentum.

• Successful Main Market listing and continued share buybacks, with £65.3m returned since 2022.

Financial highlights

• Adjusted EBITDA increased to £75.4m (margin 29.3% vs. 28.3% last year); adjusted operating profit up 13.9% to £28.7m (margin 11.1%).

• Adjusted profit before tax rose to £24.9m; adjusted diluted EPS up 17.9% to 4.6p.

• Interim dividend increased to 1.6p per share, up 23.1%.

• Net debt at £145m (IFRS 16), leverage at 0.9x, well below covenant limits.

• ROCE at 15.5%, up from 14.8% year-over-year.

Outlook and guidance

• Full-year adjusted operating profit and margin expected in line with market expectations.

• Margin improvement on track for at least 14% by 2026.

• Continued focus on cost management, efficiency, and margin recovery.

• Confident in medium- and long-term growth, supported by a strong balance sheet.