A Cheshire-headquartered textile service provider lost almost all of the pre-tax profit it made in 2019 last year while its revenue slumped by more than £120m because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Johnson Service Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has reported a pre-tax loss of £32.3m for the 12 months to December 31, 2020, down from a profit of £38.1m in the prior period.
The group's revenue also fell from £350.6m to £229.8m over the same time.
In a statement, the group said that its workwear division, which provides garment rental, protective wear and laundry services, continued to operate and service customers throughout the various lockdowns and tier restrictions.
A 12% volume reduction in April 2020 steadily improved to a 6% reduction in August and reached pre-Covid volumes in October. Customer retention levels were 94% for the year.
Because of the pandemic's effects on the economy, the group mothballed Horeca sites where necessary or production and resourcing was curtailed to match customer requirements as linen volumes "fluctuated dramatically".
The group accessed the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme while it also strengthened its balance sheet and liquidity with increased bank facilities of £175m and a £82.7m equity placing in June 2020.
Chief executive Peter Egan said: "As anticipated, our 2020 results reflect the dramatic impact that Covid-19 has had on the group, particularly within our HORECA division.
"However, the decisive actions taken have protected the future of the business, by shoring up the group's balance sheet whilst managing our laundry operations to ensure flexible quality service for our customers.
"We continue to take pro-active actions to adapt our operations to ensure the group can thrive and have a strong platform from which we can scale up operations as higher levels of demand return.
"We would like to acknowledge the magnificent efforts of our employees and thank them for their continued support through these most unusual and challenging times.
"We will continue our strategy to invest in our plants in order to maintain our position as a well invested operator, delivering outstanding levels of service to our customers.
"This, combined with our existing scale, ability to flex costs and focus on operational excellence, makes us confident that we will be able to take advantage of growth opportunities as they arise and to increase returns to shareholders over time."
