Success in the ceramic tile printing sector has boosted sales at inkjet manufacturer Xaar during the six months to 30 June 2012.

Revenues were up 20% on the same period last year but remained in line with the board's expectations at the Cambridge-based business.

Xaar pointed to its on-going growth in the ceramic market as a key catalyst for the increase in sales, a position strengthened by the recent launch of its GS12 1001 series inkjet printhead.

The GS12, which is designed for ceramic tile production, was showcased at Ceramics China in Guangzhou in May, with the first printers using the technology launching at Tecnargilla in Italy this September.

Its 1001 GS12 jets larger (12-84 picolitre) drops than the company's established GS6 printhead and offers output speeds up to 100% faster than the older model.

Elsewhere, sales into the graphics arts sector were down on the same period in 2011 with Xaar citing the maturity and competitiveness of the sector for the drop.

Margins in the first half of the year were "slightly ahead of expectations" owing to the successful deferral of volume price discounts in the ceramics segment, previously forecast for the period.

Xaar confirmed that these price discounts will impact the second half of the year, but expected them to be offset by the benefits of higher production volumes.

The manufacturer's ￡22m capacity expansion programme, which was announced in 2010, has now been completed with ceramic printhead capacity up nine-fold from 5,000 units up to 45,000.