Product category:
Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: KBA
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 May 2005
Sales Surge But New Losses And Unclear
Outlook
Press manufacturer Koenig and Bauer AG (KBA) has revealed that the inflow of orders in its first quarter surged to 382.4m Euros, 23.5 per cent up on the same period in the previous year.
Press manufacturer Koenig and Bauer AG (KBA) has revealed that the inflow of orders in its first quarter surged to 382.4m Euros, 23.5 per cent up on the same period in the previous year The company said that its sheetfed division outclassed rivals to post a 40.3 per cent jump in bookings to 243.9m Euros
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 12 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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New orders for web and special presses increased by two per cent to 138.5m Euros and group sales for the quarter totalled 311.3m Euros, 20.7 per cent higher than 12 months earlier.
Sheetfed sales climbed 16.4 per cent to 168.1m Euros, whilst web and special press sales rose 26.2 per cent to 143.2m Euros.
However, KBA also reported that a return to profit in 2004 was followed in the first quarter by a pre-tax loss of 4.2m Euros (compared with a first quarter loss in 2004 of 3.6m Euros) and a net loss for the quarter of 4.8m Euros (as against a 3.9m Euros loss for the same period last year).
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The company described the losses as a 'temporary glitch' caused by the quarterly turnover, which fell short of annual targets, by higher prices for materials and by poor margins arising from some contracts booked in previous years.
And the company would not be drawn on forecasting what lay ahead during the current financial year.
Citing the lacklustre economy in Germany and other key regions, uncertainty in currency markets regarding the movement of the Euro against the Dollar and Yen, relentless price pressures in key segments and higher prices for steel and other commodities, KBA president and chief executive officer Albrecht Bolza-Schunemann said that a more detailed projection will have to wait until later in the year, when management is better able to assess the impact of those external factors.
However, KBA's management reaffirmed that, despite the red ink, the group's objective that was announced in early April would remain.
That is to boost sales to around 1.5 billion Euros (1,423m Euros in 2004) and improving pre-tax earnings, which in 2004 totalled 15.9m Euros.
The gains delivered by cost-cutting initiatives - now completed - at KBA's web press production facilities and by more flexible labour agreements at all its German operations will soon work through to the bottom line, along with broader profit margins for new presses soon due to be delivered, said the company.
Although bigger inventories temporarily tied up liquidity, that was outweighed by a reduction in accounts receivable and a rise in customer down payments.
The cash flow from operating activities swelled to 38.2m Euros, an improvement on 2004, which saw a negative of 2.4m Euros.
There was a similar improvement in the free cash flow (32.2m Euros, against a negative of 14.7m Euros 12 months before.
What KBA described as a huge order backlog will keep the copmpany's German and Austrian production plants busy until well in to the last quarter, said the company.
The sheetfed and web presses launched at Drupa last year are already generating a large proportion of incoming orders and even though a brisk demand for sheetfed offset presses and the delivery of commercial and publication gravure presses have boosted domestic sales, the group still exports 81.7 per cent of its total output, it added.
At the end of the first quarter there were 7,334 employees on the group payroll, an increase of 31 over the previous year, solely due to the addition of 50 staff following the consolidation of Bauer and Kunzi.
Whereas the number of employees at KBA's web production plants decreased by 162, the sheetfed division hired an additional 131 staff to support its growth. Request free introductory details about products from KBA ...
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