It has also said it is finalising its three-year retooling program, shutting one of its oldest plants with the loss of 300 jobs.

According to reports, the one-time giant of printing is now faced with the prospect of Quebecor's Publications TVA media looking elsewhere for some of its print requirements.

TVA publishes around 50 magazines in Canada and indicated that the printing of a minority of these would be contracted away from Quebecor World, which is currently mired in administration.

Quebecor World has been struggling to keep other key contracts, including the catalogue of Canadian Tire and those of Canadian communications giant Rogers Communications, as well as The Economist, which has asked leave to negotiate terminating its arrangement.

However, the company said yesterday that it had added 33 new titles to its roster in a string of new deals and renewals that comprise trade and hobbyist magazines across the US and Canada.

At the same time the company said it is to close its 37-year-old Magog, Quebec-based plant with the loss of 300 positions, as it centralises its printing into larger, more modern facilities.

When first built in 1971 at a cost of $2m (£1m), the plant was the flagship facility for the then Quebecor Printing company. It currently prints inserts.