First orders for its new inkjet web press are expected in the second half of this year, German press maker KBA says.
In a report on the period to end June, it said sales were up 16 per cent, and reduced costs and increased cashflow boosted liquidity. It expects the new Würzburg-built digital press to at least partially offset a slump in web press sales.
The DRUPA trade show – and a 17.4 per cent (364 million Euros) jump in sheetfed press orders – helped its order book to a 211.1 million Euros second quarter high. However, lack of investment by web printers caused a drop in new orders for web and special presses to 215.3 million Euros, below last year’s exceptional figure of 372.8 million Euros. The total group order intake was 579.3 million Euros, 15.2 per cent less than the previous year’s record high.
Group sales rose by 15.9 per cent, and web and special press division deliveries contributed to a 38.2 per cent leap in sales to 347.5 million. Even with fewer web press orders, the order backlog at the end of June was a third higher than a year ago.
Higher sales and a jump in the gross profit margin to 29 per cent transformed last year’s 7.3 million Euros operating loss into a 13.6 million Euros profit.
Driven by demand in China, sales in the Asia Pacific region contributed 27.4 per cent of the group total, while the proportion of sales coming from North America sank.
President and chief executive Claus Bolza-Schünemann says KBA is working vigorously to enhance the profitability of its core business sheetfed and web offset presses, which were severely affected by structural changes in the industry.
He says that despite a substantial decline in market volume, KBA is focusing on restoring the profitability of web presses with all speed by upgrading and streamlining its product portfolio, concentrating all web press activities, including newspaper and commercial presses – with the exception of manufacturing – in the remit of a single member of the board, and introducing more flexible working hours.