Sales on continuing operations in the year to 29 July grew by 1.8% to £296.8m, and underlying operating profit increased by £2.6m to £21.3m. Pre-tax profit was up 28.3% to £16.9m.

The year was complicated by disposals, restructuring and acquisitions. St Ives sold its magazine division to Walstead Investments in April. It also made a string of acquisitions, although recent buys Response One and Pragma came after the year-end.

The results include a full-year contribution from Occam and six months of Tactical Solutions. The marketing services wing made up just 4.7% of group sales, and posted a small profit of £450,000, but St Ives expects the growing division to generate between 30-40% of group profits within three years.

The bottom-line loss for the year, including an £18.6m hit on discontinued operations, was £4.7m.

St Ives chief executive Patrick Martell described the shape of the group as "significantly changed", and pointed to ongoing success in moving away from commodity print services.

"We remain focused on using our strong financial position to acquire businesses and invest to reinforce our enhanced marketing services offering, which will become an increasingly significant growth driver for the group," he said.

St Ives shares jumped 6p to 75p in early trading after the results were announced.

For more, see this week’s issue of PrintWeek magazine.