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Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: KBA
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 November 2004
KBA On Recovery Road With Leap In Orders
The KBA group figures for the third quarter of 2004 show that the volume of new orders has leaped 21.7 per cent on the previous year to stand at 1,040.1m Euros (2003: 854.3m Euros).
The KBA group figures for the third quarter of 2004 show that the volume of new orders has leaped 21.7 per cent on the previous year to stand at 1,040.1m Euros (2003: 854.3m Euros) Sales in the first nine months of the year improved 16.8 per cent to 944.5m Euros (2003: 808.8m Euros)
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 12 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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As a result, it was possible to cut the loss before taxes (EBT) to 9.7m Euros, slashing over 75 per cent from the corresponding figure for the previous year and almost 50 per cent from the figure returned after the first six months of 2004.
KBA said that the continuing improvement was also clear in that, for the first time since the end of 2002, a quarterly profit before taxes (EBT) of 8.8m Euros was posted in the third quarter of 2004.
Alongside the persistent pressure on prices, revenue losses arising from below-target sales and spiralling costs for raw materials placed a squeeze on earnings.
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Nevertheless, KBA management said it holds by the declared annual group sales target for 2004 of 1.4bn Euros, the highest in KBA's 187-year history and with a pre-tax profit.
In view of the necessity to take the strain off costs and to improve earnings, the management said it considers talks with the employee representatives about longer and more flexible working hours to be indispensable.
The company said there was a significantly higher volume of inventories to cover the planned fourth-quarter increase in sales, whilst higher trade receivables produced a negative end-of-quarter cash flow from operating activities of -10.3m Euros (2003: 40.9m Euros).
With the addition of 294 employees through the acquisition of Metronic, the group payroll on 30 September totalled 7,360 people, up 75 from 7,285 a year before.
However, without including the Metronic workforce, the employye roll was reduced by 219 people.
As already previously announced by KBA, the Berlin assembly plant with 68 staff will close at the end of the year.
The trading period's order intake for sheetfed offset presses rose 18.5 per cent over 2003 to 571.6m Euros.
Sales, at 464m Euros, remained short of the target figures for the year but were still up 9.8 per cent on the prior year (422.5m Euros).
Further contracts for publication rotogravure, security and newspaper presses enabled the web and special presses division to boost orders received by 25.9 per cent to 468.5m Euros.
Nine-month sales in this segment climbed 24.4 per cent to 480.5m Euros, from 386.3m Euros the previous year.
Even with domestic sales on the increase, the export level remained high at 84.2 per cent added the company.
Although the investment climate in the international printing industry had revived in the past 12 months, the management at KBA said it still sees striking differences between the individual sectors and regions.
The upturn to date has been too modest and has remained insufficiently stable to fill the additional production capacity built up in the press manufacturing industry during the boom years beleives the company.
The pricing competition typical of a buyer's market, the soaring costs of energy and steel, and the strong Euro were significant burdens for export-intensive business it commented. Request free introductory details about products from KBA ...
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