In a statement to the stock exchange this morning, chairman Peter Hickson described the company's £1.76m pre-tax profit on revenues of £94.9m, down from £148.1m in the first half of 2008, as "disappointing".

However, he added that there were "some indications that the worst of the conditions are behind us", with improvement noticed in some areas, particularly direct mail.

The majority of the profit decline came in the company's direct mail and print sourcing divisions, the latter mainly down to the loss of the Sainsbury's contract.

Following the results, Steve Vaughan chief executive of three years, announced he would step down at the end of the financial year to be replaced by sales director Andy Blundell.

Vaughan said that his departure came at the end of a three-year plan to position the company in the "value-added space", adding that it had come to the point where it was time for someone else to take over.

Communisis was heavily exposed to the financial services sector and the precipitous decline of spend in that market following the onset of the Credit Crunch hit the company hard.

The company has since been concentrating efforts on expanding outside the financial service sector into areas such as retail, utilities and public sector work.

This morning, the company also announced a contract win with William Hill to manage the sourcing, procurement and distribution of print for the gambling industry giant.

However, Vaughan added: "Parts of the business are declining and it is unrealistic to assume that we can fill short-term gaps in volume with a 12 months sale effort."

New broom needs a magic wand at Communisis - read associate editor Jo Francis's blog on this story.

For more from Steve Vaughan, see next week's PrintWeek.