A paper merchant is expecting good times after the demise of one of its competitors and an increase in turnover despite declining European demand.

Denmaur Independent Papers, which has its headquarters in Sittingbourne, saw revenues reach £112.8 million in the year to April 30, up from £104.9 million.

This was despite a 2.7% drop in demand for graphic paper across Europe to 30.2 million tonnes in 2014, followed by a further fall in demand of 5.2% in the first four months of this year.

The company, which supplies more than 150,000 tonnes of paper a year, expects its market share to increase further after major competitor PaperlinX UK put four of its UK companies into administration in April.

It is estimated the four firms – Robert Horne Group, Howard Smith Paper, the Paper Company and PaperlinX Services – supplied between 20% to 30% of the UK graphic market.

Denmaur saw sales of its UK stock increase 82% in the year to April. It said 50% of its extra sales were deemed directly related to PaperlinX UK’s demise.

Managing director Mike Gee said: “This suggests that for the period we are reporting on, our share of the UK market increased considerably which must be viewed as encouraging.”

The firm’s good fortunes are in stark contrast to the rest of the industry, where many manufacturing mills are closing, including Aylesford Newsprint, which went into administration in February.

Denmaur, which employs about 85 people at Bonham Drive, near Sittingbourne Greyhounds, more than doubled pre-tax profits to £1.5 million, up from £736,000 a year earlier.

However the previous year’s figure was affected by “exceptional bad debt” of £651,000, meaning the real increase was up from a figure closer to £1.4 million in 2014.

Operating profit increased to just below £2 million, up from £1.2 million a year earlier.

The company opened a branch in Bristol in January and said its main challenge this year will be reviewing the company’s warehousing and distribution needs.

Chairman John Mason said the move was necessary to “maintain our competitive service offering in the most cost effective and efficient manner”.

Managing director Mike Gee added: “We see our business continuing to grow, with significant short, medium and long term opportunities, following the demise of a major competitor.

“The increase in sales of our warehouse stock means that we must further develop and invest in warehousing and transport systems.

“We must also be mindful of the credit risk in our industry, highlighted by many ex PaperlinX customers needing to secure new supply lines.”