Wyndeham has announced a major monthly magazine contract win as it released its preliminary results for the year to 31 March.


Subsidiary ET Heron will print Caravan Club, which has a 300,000 print run, from the November issue. It is the latest in a line of contracts, including In Style, that the Essex printer has won since announcing plans to install a 64pp MAN Roland Lithoman IV.


Wyndehams turnover for the year was up 16.9% to 127.7m, including 7.9m from Print Direct, which it bought last July. Operating profit before exceptionals rose by 400,000 to 16.4m, but the group was hit by exceptional costs of 1.37m: 1.26m from disruption of the Heron web and 110,000 from the integration of Aquaprint into Print Direct in March. Pre-tax profit was down 600,000 to 13.8m.


Chief executive Bryan Bedson said there had been no improvement in margins and that competitive pressure remained "intense".


He said Wyndeham was "well placed" to take advantage of improvements in the market, but this did not seem likely in the short term.


The demise of Duncan Web Offset would "not have that great an effect" on prices, he said: "There are still other people going in on cheap prices."


Wyndehams capital expenditure for the year was 29m. Bedson said it would fall to around 10.5m this year, to include a rollout of CTP across the group.


He said the groups net debt would "not go higher" than its current 45.2m. It funded the 13.5m Print Direct purchase from its own resources.


It expects to make savings later this year from the relocation of four print firms to one location in Luton.


Wyndehams share price fell 6p to 172.5p on the results.


Story by Gordon Carson