I think you'll find they never sought to sell the laundry...

I think you'll find they never sought to sell the laundry businesses, they were approached by suitors and they stated the offers were undervalue. If Spotless can't run a laundry, then who can? They won't need to retain profit as the laundry business will be self sustaining plus add profit on top. They stated they had to buy extensive new linen that was not included in the buy out of the laundries and this was a one off drag on profits as a set up. Future linen will be bought out of operating income no doubt. Good wishes...