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K-Bro Linen

KBL.TO
54
Specialty Business Services · Industrials
Price
C$45.73
+0.48 (+1.06%)
Market Cap
C$589.7M
Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange
Winston Score
54
Winston is curious
Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Good
Growth
Good
Cash Flow
Strong
Stability
Good
Valuation
Good
Dividends
Mixed

Share count rising — dilution

+11.4% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 10.7M (2021) → 11.9M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

K-Bro Linen is a Canadian company that cleans and delivers linens, uniforms, and other textiles for hospitals, hotels, and other large organizations. Its core service is industrial laundry — picking up dirty sheets, towels, and scrubs, washing them at large processing plants, and returning them clean. It is the largest linen services provider in Canada.

K-Bro makes money by charging customers a fee based on the volume of laundry processed, typically under long-term service contracts. It operates across major Canadian cities and has expanded into the United Kingdom, giving it a presence in two markets. Its competitive advantage comes from the high cost of building large laundry facilities, which makes it hard for new competitors to enter, and from sticky long-term contracts with healthcare clients. The main risk is that rising labor and energy costs can squeeze profit margins, since processing laundry is labor-intensive and energy-heavy.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+33.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue accelerating

EPS Growth

+20.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady EPS growth

R&D Spend

C$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

4.3%ownership

Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

C$21M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue accelerating

K-Bro Linen grew revenue 33% year-over-year and the growth rate is speeding up. That's the kind of momentum growth investors look for — the question is whether margins can follow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
85.6%
Premium pricing power — 85.6% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
9.7%
Modest — 9.7% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
9.5%
Below par — 9.5% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+46.6%
Fast-growing sales (+46.6% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
-4.5%
Earnings shrinking (-4.5% YoY)

Slight earnings drop. Typical near a cyclical low.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
5/8 quarters
Mixed — about half the quarters showed growth

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
337%
Turns 337% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
8.7%
Modest free cash flow (8.7%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.84
Moderate — manageable debt (0.84)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
2.56x
Tight — interest eats into profit (2.6x)

Interest coverage between 1 and 3. Profits cover interest, but with little room to spare.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
27.2x
Growth-priced — P/E 27.2

P/E above the market average. People are paying up for expected growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+5.8
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (27.2 → 21.4)

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Dividends

Dividend
Dividend Yield
2.53%
Moderate income — 2.53% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend record
Dividend Growth
+0.0%
Dividend flat

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