The turnover figure was "flattered" by the first full-year contribution by Avanti Press, the US group it acquired in February 2001. Underlying sales were in fact down 12.7%.
Profit before tax, exceptional items and goodwill slumped by almost £26m to £36.1m. And the group was also hit by exceptional charges of £9.5m due largely to redundancies and the closure of its Gillingham web offset plant.
But there were no nasty surprises in the figures, which were consistent with the predictions made by the group at the half-year point. One analyst said the performance "exceeded consensus expectation"
Clays remained the one bright spot in the business. Demand was strong and the withdrawal of Omnia and Guernsey Press from the books market provided a boost, said chairman Miles Emley. "There's overcapacity everywhere, except books," he said. "Thank God for books."
Corporate print remained at rock bottom, Emley said. "There's bugger all in corporate finance. It's pretty bad... very bad... there isn't any." But volume was "holding up" in report and accounts.
Magazines continued to suffer from reduced paginations, though fashion and lifestyle titles had been more resilient than others.
The group would continue its strategy of focusing on markets with increased service demands, such as short runs, said Emley.
"Profit progression in the short term will not be easy to achieve," he said. "But in the longer term we are confident of our ability to deliver improved returns."
St Ives still invested £35m on capital expenditure, including a new Timson web to be installed at Christmas and finishing kit for Clays "to cope with additional volumes and increasing requirements for short-runs". And the group expects to spend around £30m this financial year.
Shares rallied 3.7% to 316.5p on the back of the results but were still well short of the 52-week high of 460.5p as PrintWeek went to press. Further share buy-backs by St Ives seem likely.
St Ives has also joined the ranks of large corporates reporting a deficit on their pension funds. The triennial valuation of the fund shows a deficit of £26.3m. "The current level of funding will cover that deficit over time," explained finance director Ray Morley.
Story by Lauretta Roberts
