Declaring performance “in line with expectations,” the London-headquartered firm said it had been able to maintain higher pricing levels than expected despite a widespread decline in prices in the sector.

DS Smith praised its “strong customer relationships, ongoing innovation and high service levels” for their role in offsetting this wider slump.

The group confirmed its expectation of an adjusted EBITA of £360m in the six months to October 2023.

Miles Roberts, group CEO, said: "Overall, I am pleased with our robust performance during the first half. 

“Despite an ongoing weak macro-economic environment, we expect volume performance to improve, with second half volume performance anticipated to be better than the first half. 

“We continue to invest behind our customers, focusing on providing them with value added solutions and this, together with our strong operational performance, means we are positioned well for the remainder of FY24."

The firm has continued to invest internally, and earlier this month opened the doors to its brand-new global research, development and innovation centre, which it calls R8, near Birmingham.

DS Smith saw a bumper year in 2022/23, with pre-tax profit up 75% on the previous year, and growth up 14% to £8.22bn.