The £327.6m-turnover group completed its financial year at the end of July, and will announce its results in October.

It said trading conditions in Marketing Activation, which includes Service Graphics, SP Group, field marketing business Tactical Solutions and its managed services business were “challenging due to the ongoing pressures within the grocery retail market”.

Sales at the division will be down year-on-year, but margins should be maintained, the group said.

Book volumes at Clays were described as “stable for the first time in a number of years”, and St Ives said it had experienced “an improvement in sentiment within the physical book market”. Margins are likely to be on a par with the prior year on a similar level of turnover.

The burgeoning Strategic Marketing segment, which includes St Ives’ most recent acquisition Solstice Consulting, was described as “significantly ahead” of last year. The £50m Solstice deal was the group's first major overseas acquisition in the marketing space. St Ives also said it had invested in increased headcount at the division as part of its local and international growth strategy.

The upcoming results will be the first full year to be reported under St Ives’ new corporate structure.

St Ives’ share price slipped slightly, by 0.94p, to 180.06p on the announcement.