JOHN Menzies has delivered encouraging news after seeing signs of a recovery in its turbulent aviation services market.
The Edinburgh company now focuses on newspaper distribution and ground and cargo handling services at airports worldwide.
The group said the September 11 attacks had seen an increase in bad debt and the cost of insurance at the aviation arm, which axed 1,200 staff in December. But activity levels were up with five new aviation contracts under way in the Americas and all but one retained in the UK.
The group is changing its financial year to mirror the calendar year to mark its move away from retail, having sold the Early Learning Centre in December.
In the eight months to December 29, aviation services made a loss of £3.8m as it tackled the slumping market.
The distribution arm's profits were £16.5m and the division generated 78 per cent of overall turnover across the continuing operations of £760m. The group made a bottom-line loss of £21.1m.
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