LONDON (ShareCast) - Workwear and uniform group Alexandra's revenue in the second quarter is up on last year and results for the first half are broadly in line with management expectations.

The group warned, though, that a significant government contract ended in the first half of the year and will not be renewed. New contracts will compensate for this in the mid-term, but overall sales levels will be impacted until these new accounts come on stream towards the end of 2008.

As a result, full year turnover is anticipated to be at a similar level to last year. Product re-sourcing activities and productivity improvements are currently underway to protect profitability in this challenging environment.

In the first quarter, to April, sales rose by 4% with profits up year-on-year, despite ongoing pricing pressure that affected selling margins and higher wage and transport costs that increased overheads.

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