In its half-year report for the six-month period ended 30 June 2021, the Cambridge-based software developer’s revenue from continuing operations jumped by 99.7% to €23.8m (£20.2m), compared with €11.9m for the same period in 2020.

Its EBITDA increased by 48.6% to €5.81m, from €3.91m in 2020, while its pre-tax profit for the period was up slightly by 3.7% to €1.98m, from €1.91m in 2020.

Global Graphics CEO Mike Rottenborn said: “Global Graphics started 2021 with the acquisition of Hybrid Software, a strategic technology partner which effectively doubled our headcount and revenue.

“It brings extensive expertise in labels and packaging, a worldwide sales and technical organisation, a growing recurring revenue component, and most importantly, a very profitable end-user sales presence to the group.

“Revenues from Hybrid for the first half of 2021 were €10.4m, an increase of more than 30% from 2020, with EBITDA at 35% of revenue.”

Rottenborn said Meteor Inkjet also outperformed its revenue targets, with continued strong sales in the Chinese ceramics market.

Sales from outside China have also continued to grow, however, both due to increased orders from existing customers worldwide and from new customers, especially in the 3D printing and additive manufacturing segment.

He added: “Xitron’s sales have been bolstered both by increased OEM business and by end users upgrading older Navigator RIPs to the newest version built on Harlequin V13. As the industry resumes physical, in-person trade shows in the US later this quarter, we expect Xitron’s revenues to continue to increase.

“Global Graphics Software (GGS) has started to see an uptick in the royalties from key OEM customers as the pandemic recedes, although this is a lagging indicator of the recovery since royalties are not reported until printing devices are installed and signed off by customers.

“The cancellation of Drupa earlier this year also resulted in the postponement of some OEM product launches. However, GGS, with other group companies, pressed ahead with the introduction of our first co-developed product, the SmartDFE, a turnkey digital front end for inkjet printers of labels and product packaging which has stimulated much interest in the industry.

“Our results set us on the right path for future growth and I anticipate the remainder of 2021 to show a strong performance also.”

Global Graphics’ share price rose briefly in early trading by 2.46% to a 52-week high of €5.00 but had dropped back to €4.70 at the time of writing.