Product category:
Printing Pre-Press Systems and Materials (Repro, Platemakers, CTP, Workflow, Document Management, Design Software, etc.)
News Release from: EskoArtwork
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 13 November 2006
Growth Trend, Strong Sales Continue For
Esko
Esko has confirmed that the solid trend of continued growth during the third quarter of 2006 has produced strong performance.
Esko has confirmed that the solid trend of continued growth during the third quarter of 2006 has produced strong performance Consolidated net revenues increased by 11 per cent, compared to the third quarter of last year
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 14 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Eliminating sales from discontinued products to other markets, packaging products revenues increased by 13 per cent year-over-year.
For the first nine months of 2006, Esko saw its consolidated packaging business growing by more than 14 per cent over the same period in 2005.
New system sales (excluding services) during the period increased by 27 per cent year-over-year.
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As in previous quarters, all regions and product lines contributed to the business growth.
During the first nine months of 2006, Esko's packaging business grew year-over-year by over 20 per cent in Europe and by almost 15 per cent in the North American and Asian markets.
From a product perspective, Esko's flexo platesetter product line is the strongest performer, with worldwide sales increasing over 50 per cent year-over-year.
Growth for Scope software and Kongsberg tables exceeds 15 per cent, whilst Esko's overall service business expanded as well.
The revenue growth in installations, maintenance contracts and other services for packaging customers well exceeded the decline in service activities related to discontinued CTF and offset CTP products in other markets.
New system sales (excluding services) grew by 29 per cent, compared to the same quarter in 2005.
The EBITDA margin for the quarter was above 11 per cent.
Net working capital and cash flow continue to develop favourably, added Esko.
The EBITDA margin for the full period exceeded nine per cent of revenues, a more than four times improvement over the same period in the previous year.
At the Labelexpo Americas exhibition, Esko received the Label Industries' 2006 new innovation award.
The judges lauded Esko's systems that addressed JDF, remote proofing, 3D virtual imaging, the quality dots on the plate and fast make-ready, as well as its commitment to a digital future for labels, said Esko.
As announced at Labelexpo Americas, Hewlett-Packard has become an Esko value added reseller (VAR) with two digital front-end systems for HP Indigo's ws4000/4050/4500 presses, to optimise digital printing systems for label, flexible packaging and shrink sleeve converters.
The dedicated Esko configurations are claimed to decrease print preparation times and colour matching capabilities, enhancing the overall workflow and productivity of HP Indigo industrial printing systems.
Heidelberg Asia and Esko-Graphics Asia Pacific have concluded a reseller agreement, enabling Heidelberg Asia to distribute Esko's Scope packaging software modules Deskpack, Plato and ArtiosCAD, as well as the Kongsberg XE10 folding carton cutting table.
Heidelberg will target its folding carton converter customers in China, India, Korea and Malaysia with those Esko products.
Heidelberg will also provide first line support to its customers, backed by Esko's Asia Pacific support organisation for second line support.
Also at Labelexpo Americas, Esko released Deskpack 3-dX, a new plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that supports virtual three-dimensional views and navigation for packaging design.
At Graphexpo, three more Deskpack family plug-ins were unveiled - Image X, to translate embedded images in to separate, externally linked images; Seamless X, a step and repeat tool for gravure or flexo cylinder workflows to produce continuous output of repeating patterns and Screen X, to add multiple ruling, angle and screening support within a single separation to Illustrator.
Esko said that Deskpack is popular with designers, tradeshops and converters, because it adds packaging functions to Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, which are used to create more than 90 per cent of all packaging designs.
During the third quarter, Esko also introduced Perfecthighlights screening, which is claimed to provide highlight quality, smoother vignettes, noticeable colour gamut extension and improved consistency between press runs for label and flexible packaging applications.
ArtiosCAD 7.10, the latest release of Esko's structural design software, will incorporate technology from Solidworks, the supplier of 3D CAD technology, creating a workflow between product and packaging design environments.
Esko added that its range of value-added consulting services provides proactive solutions that answer the the challenges in today's packaging industry, focusing on - improvement of current processes, innovation by adopting today's best practices and technologies, and integration of applications that drive operational, planning and design processes.
The company said that its consulting services address 'quick wins' - to design and implement a return on investment improvement roadmap; colour excellence - to improve colour management standards and capabilities; operational excellence - geared to improving workflow efficiency and effectiveness; collaborative excellence - integrating partners in the packaging supply chain and integration excellence - integrating application architectures based on the JDF framework.
Carsten Knudsen, Esko's president and chief executive officer, said: "The continuation of our revenue growth in the third quarter indicates that Esko is capable of bringing the right integrated systems to packaging designers and manufacturers worldwide, to help them take optimal advantage of new business opportunities in the market.
It is important that we continue the dialogue with our customers and with other supply chain players, to ensure that our systems support the efficiency improvements, cost reductions, collaboration initiatives and technology changes constantly re-shaping the packaging industry." Knudsen continued: "For some two years now, Esko has been focusing its resources towards the packaging industry.
We now see the results from the many improvement initiatives we initiated to streamline our organisation, increase the efficiency of our internal processes, shorten decision paths and implementation schedules whilst, most importantly, bringing our customers closer in to our day-to-day operations." And he explained: "A solid financial basis enables us to keep the company thriving, for example by funding new product development (by over eight per cent of revenues), extending our customer services resources and launching in to new markets and areas of activities.".
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