GLOBAL export company PG Paper of Greenock has a bumper year with turnover up to over £35 million.

Profits at the firm, owned by Kilmacolm couple Poonam and Puneet Gupta, also increased by £37,000 to £1.17m.

In the company's latest set of annual accounts for the year up to March 31, turnover grew by £315,000 to £36.2m.

Profit before tax and deductions shot up by £1.6m to £3.5m compared with 2017, but much of that was lost because of changing currency rates.

The company specialises in buying and selling different varieties of paper to clients around the world.

The vast majority of the firm's business is done outwith the UK and Europe.

Mrs Gupta, PG Paper's chief executive, said: "The directors are pleased to report continuing profitability amongst some challenging trading conditions.

"Margins increased on historic levels due in part to high paper prices although much of the gain was offset by losses due to currency fluctuations."

The company boss, who was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2017, warned that there are a number of issues causing concern, but said the firm is well-equipped to deal with them.

She said: "The principal risks facing the business are external factors such as raw material price increases, exchange rate fluctuations and political and economic risks in some of our emerging markets.

"The company aims to mitigate such risks with key strategies including market and product diversity."

Mrs Gupta founded the company from her kitchen table in 2003 and it now trades in more than 50 countries across five continents.

She runs the Custom House-based business with her husband Puneet, who is the chief operating officer.

According to the financials, an additional four members of staff were hired during the year, taking the total number of employees to 23.

The accounts also disclosed that a donation of £40,000 was made to politician Anas Sarwar for his unsuccessful Scottish Labour leadership campaign in 2017.

Last year, the firm secured a £10m funding package from Santander to aid growth plans.

The owners are aiming to double the size of the company over the next two years and take on as many as 20 extra staff.