Scottish food industry leader Devro assured its shareholders yesterday that it had continued to make good progress.

Steve Hannam, the chairman, told the annual meeting that the year to date had seen continuing sales growth and a positive impact from changes in the sales mix at the global sausage-casing manufacturer.

Devro reported in February that its order books were strong and its Scottish business, employing 480 between Bellshill and Moodiesburn in Lanarkshire, had been recruiting.

It said then that immediate growth was being driven by its new Select casing, which had since 2010 grabbed 4.3% of Devro sales and 5% of revenues.

Mr Hannam said: "Total sales are ahead of the comparable period last year with eastern Europe, Russia, Japan, south-east Asia and Latin America all demonstrating solid growth, partially offset by slow trading conditions in the UK. Sales of our premium Select range continue to increase in Japan and Europe and represent a growing proportion of the group's edible collagen sales."

Select last year helped Devro achieve a 4.6% uplift on sales of collagen casings despite some slow markets, as sales rose 6.6% to £228 million and underlying pre-tax profit rose 15% to £43m.

The chairman continued: "Manufacturing performance was slightly below expectations early in the year, but recent performance is much improved.

"The newly installed lines in Scotland are in full production and product development work continues on the new line in the US. Capital investment in additional capacity in the Czech Republic is proceeding as planned."

Last year Devro invested £15m in new high-speed lines for the Scottish factories.

Mr Hannam said: "The financial position of the group continues to be strong and we remain confident that the group is on track to meet the board's expectations for the full year."