As the largest producer of Home Information Packs, the company was hit last year by the decline of the property sector and has been diversifying during 2009, leading to an 11% increase in work from outside this market.

However, total revenue at the business for the six months to 31 August, was down to £8.5m, compared with £8.8m in 2008, while pre-tax profits were down to £189,000, compared with £507,000 for the same period a year previous.

Joint chief executive Nicholas Green said: "The first half of the year has been a period of investment in the core business activities of online and direct marketing.

"The second half of the year has continued to show signs of improvement in the property sector with sales of this division from August onwards now increasing compared to the same period last year."

Online revenue at the business grew by 47% to £2.08m, however margins declined due to higher overheads in the division.

Meanwhile, revenues at its data and direct marketing division, Tangent Direct, fell by £982,000, severely impacted by the decline in the property sector.

In addition, the drop in the property market caused revenues at its Ravensworth print site to fall by 25% year-on-year. However, the company said it was beginning to see an "improvement in trading over prior year comparatives".

In May this year, the company re-launched its digital trade print service, the Digital Print Partnership, following its acquisition out of administration from VLM.

The service currently has 364 customers and is expanding at a rate of "more than 30 per month", the company said.

For more, see next week's PrintWeek.