In the year to 30 March sales at the Cumbrian manufacturer fell from £129.7m to £103m, while adjusted operating profit more than halved at £2m (2023: £4.8m).

The pre-tax loss was £5.3m compared to a £1.3m profit the prior year.

Group CEO Steve Adams said order intake levels at its Paper & Packaging business pointed to signs of recovery in FY2025, while its new operating model was “already delivering improved margins”. 

The Advanced Materials business remains poised to capitalise on the anticipated scale-up in the hydrogen sector “through clarity on national government funding and support programmes for green hydrogen”. 

He stated: “After a strong first half that showed continued momentum on the previous year, difficult market conditions during late 2023 and early 2024 across both businesses required a concerted effort to protect prices and margins and to focus on productivity and cost savings.

"This was achieved whilst also concluding the significant restructuring of our Paper & Packaging business and adopting a completely new continuous running operating model for the first time.”

The historic business, which will celebrate its 180th anniversary next year, has also just unveiled a new brand identity.

The new brand architecture will be represented as two market facing divisions: James Cropper Paper & Packaging and James Cropper Advanced Materials. 

The new branding is being rolled out this month. 

James Cropper’s share price fell from 300p to 282p following the news (52-week high: 865p, low: 212p). The share price has lost more than 60% of its value since the start of the year.