United Closures & Plastics, the bottle-top maker based in Bridge of Allan, Stirling and owned by a company in Luxembourg, saw pre-tax profits fall from £5.77million to £4.97m last year.

It says exchange and raw material movements were to blame.

The group's turnover, which had continued to rise by 7.5% in 2011 despite economic pressures, slipped back from £92.8m to £91m, while operating profit was cut from £6.68m to £5.89m, according to accounts just lodged at Companies House

After paying a £5.2m dividend the previous year to Financiere Daunou, its Luxembourg-based parent company, the Scottish business paid no dividend in 2012, enabling shareholder funds to rise from £17.2m to £22m.

Employment rose from 512 to 539, and two rather than three directors were remunerated directly from the parent company.

UCP supplies the spirits industry from its base in central Scotland, but also makes bottle-tops and plastic bottles for the pharmaceutical, household, food and personal care sectors.

Writing in the report, the directors say the dip in sales was largely due to foreign exchange movements and reductions in polymer prices which were passed on to customers.

They say the business continued to focus on its core activities, with a strong emphasis on "business growth with strategic customers".

UCP has developed innovative packaging solutions in markets where producers are highly sensitive to the security of their products.

The directors say: "Product security continues to be a growing concern within the global market for both manufacturers and consumers, and we are well placed to work with our customers to ensure high-quality security systems, suitable for the products and markets, are commercially available."

The company would also look for opportunities in new geographic markets where its product range was in demand.

Current production is 68% to the UK and 16% to the rest of Europe, with 6% to other markets.