KBA Sales And Profits Climb Although Web Is Down

With sales up by almost 10 per cent and an improved pre-tax profit up to EUR25.6 million German press manufacturer KBA has reported a strong first half year in 2007.

The company said that group sales of EUR794.9m showed a 9.4 per cent increase on the previous year's EUR726.5m.

Pre-tax earnings increased to EUR25.6m or 3.2 per cent of sales, compared with EUR18.7m and 2.6 per cent, respectively for the same period last year.

After deducting income tax KBA closed the half-year with a net profit of EUR19.1m (2006 - EUR12.5m) and proportional earnings per share of EUR1.17 (2006 - 77 cents).

Operating profit jumped from EUR18.8m to EUR27.2m.

Despite below-capacity production at KBA's web press plants in the second half-year, the company has reaffirmed its spring projection that the group would meet its 2007 sales target of around EUR1.7 billion and post pre-tax earnings of a similar magnitude to last year's EUR47.4m.

In the first six months the order intake rose one per cent to EUR726.3m (2006 - EUR719.3m).

KBA said that whilst sales by the company's web and special press division climbed by 6.9 per cent from EUR393.5m to EUR420.5m following an increase in shipments to gravure and security printers, soft demand for newspaper and gravure presses meant that the intake of web press orders was down on the previous year.

That was despite what the company described as some spectacular contracts that included a Cortina 6/2 press line for Le Figaro in Paris (France).

However, KBA added that because of brisk demand for special presses the total volume of new orders booked by the division came to EUR350.6m, not far short of last year's EUR354.6m.

Sheetfed sales of EUR374.4m were 12.4 per cent up (2006 - EUR333m) and the volume of new orders rose three per cent to EUR375.7m, with subsidiary KBA-Metalprint, which was consolidated in the second half of 2006, making a contribution to the results.

Sales exceeded incoming orders in both divisions, cutting the order backlog to EUR880.1m (2006 - EUR1,033.7m), comprising EUR306.7m (2006 - EUR343.4m) for sheetfed presses and EUR573.4m (2006 - EUR690.3m) for web and special presses.

According to KBA the backlog will keep its sheetfed plants in Radebeul (Germany) and Dobruska (Czech Republic) busy until well in to the fourth quarter and plant utilisation is also high at the group's niche-focused subsidiaries.

However, it will not safeguard full employment for the rest of the year at the web press production plants in Wurzburg, Trennfeld and Frankenthal.

KBA also reported that export sales climbed by 87.9 per cent as against softer domestic sales of EUR95.8m, down from EUR120.1m in 2006).

Once again the rest of Europe was KBA's biggest market, with sales worth EUR427.4m, which contributed 53.8 per cent of group revenue - a year-on-year increase of 22.9 per cent.

Asia and the Pacific came second with EUR124.1m (15.6 per cent) followed by North America with EUR83.3m (10.5 per cent).

Sales in Latin America and Africa rose to EUR64.3m (8.0 per cent).

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