ICC Bank and the ICC Venture Capital Fund have increased their stake in Navenby Group, the Dublin based packaging company, from 36 per cent to 47 per cent. The investment amounts to £3.5 million and will be used to fund the expansion of subsidiary companies.

The other shareholders are managing director, Mr Ian Shearer and executive directors, Mr Ian Gracie and Mr Roy Fearnley.

Mr Shearer said a flotation of the company's shares was "in the back of our mind" for the future but nothing was immediately planned. "We are not rushing into it," he added.

Navenby employed 65 people in 1989. This has expanded to 170 people. Most of the group's operations are in Britain; only 35 people are employed in the Irish operations. The group has been expanding its core business but it has also made a number of acquisitions.

Too much of the business was in Britain, said Mr Shearer and the plan was to expand more in Ireland.

Navenby hopes to develop its ultra packaging business and also expand plastic packaging, either by increasing its core business or by acquisition.

The group's main subsidiary in Ireland is Ultra Packaging, formerly Savage Plastics, which is a leading producer of packaging for the retail and food sectors. Ultra recently launched a range of new products such as "Hot & Cold" wrap for food packaging and other uses.

Navenby plans capital expenditure of more than £3 million over the next year. This will include the installation of state of the art, multi layer extrusion, printing and conversion facilities. The plan is to more than double capacity over the next three years.

Other companies within the group include the Liverpool based Alpha Packaging Films, Bridge Packaging in Hull and Ellito Packaging in Rochdale. The companies are involved in extrusion, printing and conversion of specialist films for food and other uses.

Group sales will rise from £8.6 million in 1991 to an anticipated £19.2 million this year. Around 85 per cent of sales are in overseas markets. These include France, Germany, Portugal, Scandinavia and the US.

ICC has been a major investor in Navenby since 1989. Ms Prisca Grady of ICC Venture Capital said ICC had received dividends from its investment.

This year would be a record year for venture capital by ICC, she said. This, she estimated should reach between £13 million and £15 million. Venture capital investment amounted to around £56 million last year.

ICC Bank recorded a 5.7 per cent increase in pre tax profit from £5.5 million to £5.8 million in the six months to April 30th, 1996. The underlying trend was better. Excluding a bad debt provision of £500,000, the underlying growth rate amounted to 14.6 per cent.