Overall turnover in the six months to 30 June was £169.3m, up 40%, which included £53m of ‘pass through’ sales via its Deploy offering to managed service clients, including Procter & Gamble.

Excluding pass-through, sales still increased by 28% to £116.3m.

“Even we were a bit surprised at sales moving so far ahead,” said chief executive Andy Blundell.

Overseas sales now account for 19% of turnover, and the group appears likely to hit its 20% target this year.

Costs associated with new contract wins, including the huge 10-year deal with Lloyds Banking Group that has seen more than 300 staff transfer from LBG to Communisis, dented margins, which slipped to 5.2% (2013: 5.6%).

However, Blundell said the integration of the business was “on track” and he was confident that margins would bounce back in the latter part of the year and the group would progress towards its double-digit margin target.

“We expect for the full year it will recover and move ahead on last year. We are expecting a strong second half,” Blundell stated. “All the major financial ratios are moving in the right way.”

There was a £1.2m exceptional charge relating to restructuring, and central costs jumped by £1m to £6.5m, but pre-tax profit still more than doubled to £2.2m (2013: £1m).

Despite the surge in sales, Communisis has kept a tight grip on working capital. “Our cashflows are very strong and we have made a big improvement in our operating cash,” said finance director Nigel Howes.

Part of the cash boost is because the group has negotiated new commercial arrangements with major clients. “We are collecting our trade debtors faster than we have to pay out liabilities. The improvement is a consequence of good negotiation and we stick to our terms with both suppliers and clients.”

The firm has also worked to improve its internal disciplines and procedures to maximise cash.

“A significant amount of operating profit is being turned into cash that we can then invest,” Howes added.

As of next month Howes will become the group’s strategic and corporate development director, focusing on acquisitions and potential expansion.

Mark Stoner, who has been with the group for six years, is promoted to finance director as a result.

Other board changes include the appointment of Helen Keays as non-executive director, joining Jane Griffiths of Christie’s. Keays is also a non-exec at Domino’s Pizza and Majestic Wine.

“We now have two women on our board from strong marketing backgrounds, which is very relevant to the way the business is moving,” Blundell said.

At the group’s ‘Produce’ print operations sales rose almost 41% to £77.8m, although margins fell from 14.9% to 11.2% due to a combination of factors.

Its high-margin chequebook business continued to decline, as did demand for direct mail. In May Communisis announced 75 job cuts and a further restructure at its Leeds DM plant.

“Leeds is trading at acceptable levels at the moment,” said Blundell. “Longer term we will look at the position. We are interested in highly specialist areas of direct mail, we are not interested in the commoditised end. We would rather manage that through the supply chain.”

The group’s former headquarters building in Leeds has been sold and around 50 staff associated with head office functions will move to Cross Gates next month as a result.

At the new Copley transactional print centre a further £2.8m capex spend is planned for the second half to complete the set-up. The site mirrors the group’s existing transactional plant in Speke, and houses HP T400 inkjet web presses and Pitney Bowes high-speed enclosing kit.

Communisis will also open a second London facility later this year to house its latest acquisitions, having outgrown its current office following the purchases of Jacaranda Productions, Public Creative and The Communications Agency earlier this year.

Blundell said: “We are still interested in acquisitions on a highly selective basis, if the right business comes along.”

Sales at its Design wing grew 19.8% to £11.5m, although data sales to insurance clients slipped during the period.

“Their business model has been challenged by online comparison sites and therefore their marketing focus has changed,” explained Howes. “We’ve got to see if this is temporary or a more general trend. And the focus of our data business is increasingly moving to the higher-value intelligent interpretation side of things.”

Net debt increased to £36.2m from £25.7m, and the company has also agreed a new, larger banking facility of £70m through to 2018 with its banking syndicate.

The interim divided increased by 12% to 0.67p.

“The business has its feet on the ground and is intent on delivering and continuing to deliver,” Blundell stated.

Communisis shares fell by 1.25p in early trading to 61.75p (52-week high: 74.25p, low: 52.25p).