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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 20 June 2007
KBA Profits Up Despite Sluggish News and
Gravure
Even though there has been sluggish demand for big newspaper and gravure press lines, KBA's sheetfed and special press sales still helped raise a pre-tax profit of EUR47.4 million.
The profits compared with those of 2005 of ERU25.8 million The web and special press division's operating profit was EUR41.2m, whilst the sheetfed division's operating profit of EUR5m left a lot of room for improvement, said the company
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 9 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Group sales totalled a record of EUR1.74 billion, whilst orders for the first five months of the current trading year up by EUR 70 million on 1976.
That has prompted KBA to project a rise in sales and a profit in the first half-year, figures for which will be published on August 14.
Whilst KBA said that its sheetfed division has enough orders to keep it busy until well in to the fourth quarter of this year, a year-on-year drop in the order backlog for newspaper and gravure presses, due in part to higher shipments, will cause capacity fluctuations in the second half-year at the group's web press production plants.
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Waterless newspaper offset has now spread to Belgium, where media player De Persgroep in Asse, near Brussels, has just become the third print enterprise to sign up for a KBA Cortina after Rodi Rotatie
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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.
Because of the long lead times for web presses, recent contracts for newspaper and commercial presses will have no immediate impact on manufacturing and assembly levels.
Having reduced the volume of work outsourced, downsized the temporary labour force and rescheduled internal manufacturing jobs, KBA added that it is planning to introduce short-time work in certain departments from July 1.
The costs associated with the cut in capacity utilisation have already been factored in to the earnings forecast for 2007.
KBA group president and chief executive officer, Albrecht Bolza-Schunemann, commented: "Amongst newspaper publishers, investment in new kit has been hit by demographic trends in many developed economies and by the fact that daily titles in Europe and North America have now largely completed conversion to full colour.
It is too soon to tell whether this is cyclic, like the downturn six years ago, a temporary phenomenon as the media industry absorbs continuing changes in the market, or a permanent and irreversible trend.
If the last hypothesis is correct we shall be obliged to trim our web press operations and focus on core components." Looking back on 2006, Bolza-Schunemann cited a healthy balance sheet and cash flow.
KBA commented that its focus is on product and process innovation to address changes in market demand.
Current examples quoted by Bolza-Schunemann were a new medium-format sheetfed press developed specifically for China and other emerging markets, as well as a triple-width version of KBA's so called eco-friendly Cortina press, orders for which have already been booked by Paris newspaper publishing house Le Figaro and others.
He added that the Commander CT automated wet offset press would also see a new model.
Production of small-format presses will gradually be transferred to KBA's Czech subsidiary, KBA-Grafitec in Dobruska, in a move to enhance competitiveness against non-European rivals in a price-driven market.
And, as in the past, the group is keeping its options open for expanding in to new, high-potential markets, either under its own steam or through acquisitions.
Shareholders approved a motion tabled by the management and supervisory boards to utilise EUR8.2m of the parent's EUR16.1m profit under German accounting laws to increase the dividend by 25 per cent, from 40 cents the previous year to 50 cents.
At the same time the AGM agreed to transfer the EUR7.9m balance to reserves.
Shareholders also granted discharge to the board of directors. Request free introductory details about products from KBA ...
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