The British group Johnson Service is still struggling to generate a decent return from Connacht Court, the textile rental group it bought for €36 million a few years ago.

The main beneficiaries of the sale were three Goodbody brothers - Oliver, Trevor and Malcolm - who got more than half the Johnson money, while AIB Capital Markets and ACT Venture Capital trebled their 1996 investment in Connacht Court.

Ever since Johnson took over the Irish business, it has struggled to increase profitability, but maybe that will change with the closure last year of the Rathfarnham operation and the sale of the loss-making Dublin linen business.

Johnson's chief executive made it clear with the group's results last week that it was determined to produce a big improvement in Connacht Court's profitability and that there was room for growth in the business.

Connacht Court's turnover fell almost 10 per cent last year to just under £23 million sterling (€38 million), partly because of the sale of the Dublin linen business but also due to the impact of the weaker tourist season on the linen operation in Galway.

But getting rid of the losses from Dublin meant there was a 31 per cent increase in operating profits to £2.1 million, with margins up 50 per cent to more than 9 per cent.

Connacht Court is still not producing the sort of return that justifies the €36 million that Johnson Service spent to buy the company, but after much pain it does seem to be getting to the stage where there is some decent upside.