Marketing and print services group St Ives said today that its full-year results, which are due out in October, would be in line with current market expectations.

St Ives, whose businesses include Bungay-based book printer Clays, said trading in its marketing services segment had remained strong up to the group's August 1 year-end, significantly ahead of the equivalent period last year.

'The segment continues successfully to extend its range of services, primarily through acquisition,' it said.

'The integration of the recently acquired businesses, Realise (a digital marketing agency acquired in March 2014), and Health Hive (a healthcare communications business acquired in May 2014), is progressing well.

'As planned we continue to invest in additional headcount, both in the UK and internationally, to support our plans for growth in this segment over the medium term.'

St Ives added that, despite 'difficult' trading conditions for its print services, it would be able to deliver like-for-like revenue growth across the segment as a whole.

'Having successfully restructured our print businesses, we will continue to invest in the remaining businesses to improve the range and quality of the services that we offer to our clients,' the group said.

'Our focus continues to be on ensuring that we target additional volume where service and quality are important requirements for the client, rather than commoditised volumes which are differentiated on price alone.'