Directors for the holding company of print group Pillans & Waddies, which recorded a 5.9m pre-tax loss in 2002, blamed "uncertainty in the financial services market" for the results.

But the board stated that it was confident "that both  the market and the group's performance will improve in 2004".

The company, which closed its Manchester-based Trafford Press in May this year as part of a cost-cutting strategy, posted a turnover of 45.8m in 2004, up from 37.6m in 2002.

But net debt at the Edinburgh-based group inc-reased from 23.9m at the beginning of 2003 to 24.6m on 31 December, including a bank overdraft of 16m.

Ormolu was unavailable for comment as PrintWeek went to press.