St Ives has issued a profit warning and is ceasing web printing at its Direct plant in Leeds with the loss of 125 jobs after being hit by falling demand and pressure on prices.

The group said market conditions had deteriorated further since it announced its preliminary results last October.

Demand for corporate financial print remain exceptionally subdued. Magazine paginations had also been hit by the fall in internet and technology advertising, it said, as had commercial and promotional print in the UK, Europe and particularly the US.

The former Hunters Armley site in Leeds will now accommodate St Ives Red Letter, which is moving there from Bradford, plus perfect binding and finishing.

St Ives said it had made 430 staff redundant across the group (or 7% of its total workforce), including the 125 at Leeds, in the current financial year at a cost of 4m.

It said that results for the year would be somewhat below the lower range of market expectations if the markets it serves remain subdued.

The Leeds plant used two MAN Roland Rotoman webs, a 16pp and 32pp, as of August 2001. It also houses eight folding systems, five saddle stitching lines, in-line shrink-wrapping and two perfect binding lines.