It made 2.66m on sales of 53.7m for the year ending 31 January 2003, although the firm did say that year-on-year comparisons were difficult as the previous years accounts reflected only a seven-month contribution from the acquisition of Filofax.

However, group chief executive Gordon Presly said that Letts still performed ahead of the previous year in terms of profitability, despite severe price pressure from mainly European competitors.

This is good news for Presly, who in October led calls urging the Scottish Executive and Westminster to tackle the decline in Scottish manufacturing exports.

The Scottish firm, which invested 600,000 in print-ing and binding kit recently, employs over 500 staff at its Dalkeith plant and Burgess Hill site near Gatwick.