In a trading statement ahead of its year-end results for 2020, the Cambridge-headquartered inkjet developer said that sales were likely to be on a par with 2019 at around £48m.

Chief executive John Mills, who took over in the autumn of 2019, said the performance was “testament to the efforts of the team in extraordinary circumstances”.

“We are one year into delivering our strategy and it is clearly having a positive impact, notably as existing customers continue to engage, and we are winning new business.

“We remain excited by the future and will remain disciplined in delivering long-term sustainable growth.”

In the update Xaar said its printhead business continued “to perform well with continued success in winning new customers”.

It is in the process of rolling out its new ImagineX platform and cited “clear growth opportunities ahead”.

A number of operational changes have been made at the EPS direct-to-shape business, which Xaar said was well placed for the future.

At the nascent 3D wing, Xaar said it had made further progress with product development and testing “despite continued Covid-19 delays” and was working closely with partner Stratasys on the best ways to commercialise the product range. 

Despite Xaar's positive commentary, shares fell more than 9% after the announcement and were at 148.5p at the time of writing.

At the end of last year Stratasys boosted its additive manufacturing know-how with the acquisition of 3D parts manufacturing tech firm Origin.