The group has sold the Peterborough factory occupied by Wyndeham Peterborough to real estate investment trust group AEW UK, which has property assets across the UK worth nearly £138m.

AEW UK has paid £5.7m in cash for the site, which had a net book value of £2.6m on St Ives’ accounts and contributed £400,000 a year to operating profits. The sale means St Ives has now completed its plan to dispose of non-core property assets.

St Ives is approaching its financial year-end, and said it would use the proceeds of the disposal to reduce its net debt.

The group’s share price reached a new all-time low of 37.3p last month, but has since recovered and rose by 0.5p to 54p after the announcement of the latest property sale. The year high is 149.6p.

There has been no further update on the group’s strategic review announced in March, and the potential sell-off of its printing operations.

Roy Kingston, chief operating officer at Wyndeham Group owner Walstead Group, said that the firm’s Peterborough lease, as with the Roche site in Cornwall, ran until 2021. “This is just a change of landlord, our business plan won’t change,” he said.

The substantial office and production space at Peterborough exceeds 16,000sqm.