Specialist printer Wyndeham Press is sounding an upbeat note after a string of new contracts helped half-yearly profits soar 63 per cent to £3.1 million.

The company said it had secured deals to print titles such as Ideal Home and weekly celebrity magazine Reveal, leaving it optimistic about the future despite challenging market conditions.

It was reaping the benefits of a major overhaul of the group and its sales structure earlier in the year and management said they were on track to deliver annual results in line with expectations.

The Hove-based company said since the end of the first half, it had won further new contracts that would benefit it "incrementally" in 2005.

Managing director Paul Utting said: "Although we continue to face a challenging market, the activity for new launches in publishing does generate some feelings of optimism."

Wyndeham Press is one of the UK's leading printers of specialist magazines, commercial literature and direct mail.

Titles printed by the company include What Car?, Marie Claire, GQ and Construction News.

Unveiling results for the six months to September 30, Wyndeham said the £5.9 million purchase of a graphics firm in March contributed to the improved trading.

The company employs about 1,600 people at sites including Milton Keynes, Manchester, Grimsby, Dronfield, near Sheffield, and Maldon in Essex.

Last year, its profits fell by almost a third to £4.4 million as the advertising downturn took its toll on the industry.

Announcing its interim results yesterday, Wyndeham said it was difficult to predict when the UK market would start to benefit from the global advertising recovery.

As part of the group's recent restructuring, it set up a new central sales force to target blue-chip clients such as major supermarkets and car manufacturers.

The results showed turnover had increased by 16 per cent to £69.1 million while operating profits before goodwill and exceptionals rose 37 per cent to £4.1 million. The company increased its interim dividend by ten per cent to 1.65p.