Product category:
Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: KBA
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 May 2004
First Quarter Losses Grow But KBA More
Confident
The first quarter figures for Koenig and Bauer (KBA) paled beside its half-time performance at Drupa 2004 as the company has posted a loss in the first quarter of 4.3m Euro loss.
The first quarter figures for Koenig and Bauer (KBA) paled beside its half-time performance at Drupa 2004 as the company has posted a loss in the first quarter of 4.3m Euro loss before taxes compared to a 3.5m Euro loss in the same period in 2003 The influx of new orders at Drupa has surpassed all (albeit relatively modest) expectations and, in the case of sheetfed offset presses, the high volume booked at Drupa 2000, when business boomed
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 9 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Major contracts have also been secured for commercial and rotogravure presses as well as a string of smaller deals have been concluded and negotiations have been opened for newspaper presses.
According to Albrecht Bolza-Schunemann, president of KBA (and Drupa), the situation in the first quarter of 2004 was not so uniformly positive.
Although a more optimistic mood in the industry was reflected in a 33.9% jump in new orders, year on year, to 309.6m Euros, sales were affected by a re-scheduling of shipments and rose just 6.9% to 257.9m Euros, well below the group's target.
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The biggest SLF offset press on the international market entered the final phase of production at the beginning of November 2003 with the successful conclusion of sheet-run trials at KBA's factory.
Despite the first quarter loss, KBA's management said it is still targeting a profit for the year at group level.
Sales and earnings both look set to receive a substantial boost in the second half of the year believes the company.
The cash flow from ordinary activities to the end of March shrank to -2.4m Euros following a substantial increase in inventories for shipments scheduled in the second half of the year.
KBA's restructuring measures initiated last year at the company's web press facilities reduced the payroll to 6,993 at the end of the quarter, compared to 7,331 people in 2003.
The addition of 310 employees following the acquisition of Metronic AG at the beginning of the year raised the total to 7,303, or 28 fewer than 12 months earlier.
The volume of new orders for sheetfed offset presses swelled by 17.4% to 173.8m Euros (2003: 148m Euros), continuing the brisk pace of prior quarters.
A pre-Drupa open house at KBA's Radebeul facility in late March drew 1,500 people and helped buoy up orders in the countdown to the show.
Despite a delay in some deliveries, sales totalled 144.4m Euros, slightly higher than in the corresponding period the previous year (141.2m Euros).
A 31.7% increase in the volume of orders on hand, to 289m Euros, safeguards production for several months in KBA's opinion.
Profiting from renewed confidence among newspaper, commercial and rotogravure printers, KBA's web and special press division booked new orders to the value of 135.8m Euros, a 63.2% increase on the prior year's poor figure of 83.2m Euros.
However, following a drop in the number of security presses shipped, sales fell short of the annual target, totalling 113.5m Euros compared to 100m Euros a year earlier.
The order backlog was slightly up on the previous year's level, at 619.6m Euros, and will keep production running until well into the autumn said the company.
KBA said it perceives an end to the crisis that has stifled growth for the past three years.
Sooner or later, the upturn in the USA and buoyant markets in Asia will reinvigorate the global economy and drive up demand.
Drupa could well provide the spark that re-ignites the print industry, and KBA, which currently exports 87.4% of its total output, is confident that the benefits will work through to its sales and earnings for this year and the next.
Management is unwilling to attempt a more detailed prognosis until the summer, when the impact of currency fluctuations and the state of the economy can be assessed with greater accuracy. Request free introductory details about products from KBA ...
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