The group announced a trading update this morning, following the end of its financial year on 1 August.

It said its overall results would be inline with market expectations, with Marketing Services “significantly ahead” of 2013 due to its latest acquisitions. The group acquired Realise in March, and Health Hive in May, propelling its spend on marketing businesses to £200m.

Matt Armitage, who took over as chief executive at the beginning of the month, has previously said that St Ives will continue to seek further potential buys, with a multichannel analytics business on the group’s wish-list.

At its print wing, St Ives said it would continue to invest in the now restructured offering, which comprises Clays, Service Graphics and SP Group.

Referring to the “difficult” trading conditions, chief financial officer Brad Gray said: “Across the whole of print it’s still as competitive as it’s ever been.”

Despite this, St Ives said it would continue to invest in its print operations. Clays recently took its digital spend to £2.5m with new kit from Timsons and Kolbus.

In the group’s 2013 results the print division had sales of just under £253m, and made an operating margin of 7.8%. “Our focus continues to be on ensuring that we target additional volume where service and quality are important requirements for the client, rather than commoditised volumes which are differentiated on price alone,” the firm said.

St Ives will announce its year-end results in October.