Sales increased to 1.24bn in the period to 30 September. Earnings from continuing operations rose from 66m to 72.1m.

"We are pleased with our third-quarter results, which exceeded our expectations," said chief executive Mark Angelson." Overall we delivered strong revenue growth, profit margins and cash flow from operations."

It was a busy quarter for the firm in which it completed the acquisition of Asia Printers, Polish firm Poligrafia and the Charlestown, Indiana plant of Adplex-Rhodes, which produces inserts, in addition to business process outsourcing firm Astron.

Integrated Print Communications, the division which Astron became part of, increased sales by 30% to 328m. This was primarily due to Astron, but also included growth in its US direct mail business.

Shares closed down 3% at 19.74 following the announcement of the results.