The group, whose subsidiaries include Bicester-based web offset printer BGP, made an operating loss of £7.8m and was hit by a £4m restructuring charge coupled with a £4.1m loss on the disposal of fixed assets.

A 3.1% decline in turnover on market conditions was blamed for the loss in the directors' report, which added that the major factor influencing results had been the restructuring of the business, necessitated by "major contract losses", leading to the closure of BGP's Colchester site.

The report said: "While the cost of this metamorphosis has been very significant, the chairman and sole shareholder has continued to support the project with additional loans of £22.17m in the year.

"This has enabled our group to create the largest, most modern and unit cost efficient commercial web offset facility in the UK – an outstanding platform for the return to group profitability which has been planned for 2009/2010."

The report added that the £4.1m loss on the disposal of buildings was due to a sale and leaseback of property to group chairman John Madejski OBE.

According to Goodhead Group's accounts, its printing division made a loss before interest and tax of £11.6m on a turnover of £46.1m, while the company's net debt stood at £45.1m as of 31 May 2008.

Last year, former BGP group sales director Bob Caley said: "I believe we are the only printer in the UK market that has got a sustainable business model."

In December, Goodhead Group announced a debt refinancing deal in which loans of £32.4m were repaid in a debt-for-equity swap led by the company's owner and chairman John Madejski OBE, and "largely focused" on subsidiary BGP.