In its interim statement for the period from January to the end of March 2010, the company said that year-to-date trading has been in line with its expectations but added that the market was still tough.
Although the company currently sees no signs of recovery across its markets, it expects growth in operating profit in certain regions.
In Norway, the group reports a significantly higher profit as the Davis operation has benefited from the integration of business acquitted in January.
The Continental region is also seeing some improvement, in particular in the group's German healthcare business and in its Dutch workwear operations, which had a good first quarter.
In the UK and Ireland, volumes in UK hotels improved. The company said that revenue from healthcare business grew well, but it continues to work on improving the financial performance of the decontamination contracts, which started in May 2009.
In conclusion, the group said that it would be well placed when markets start to grow once more.
