KBA sees further opportunities for growth in digital and package printing

The management board of German printing equipment manufacturer Koenig & Bauer (KBA) sees further opportunities for growth predominantly in digital and package printing, as the company has reported group sales of 1.1 billion EUR (1.2 billion USD) in 2014.

KBA has develop a new press for printing high-quality labels, the Varius LX-TX

This figure is broadly in line with KBA’s performance in the 2013 financial year, and at the top end of its forecast.

KBA said initial positive impacts from its Fit@All realignment project, which began at the beginning of 2014, are visible and compared to the previous year, when restructuring expenses of over 155 million EUR (165.6 million USD) affected its operating result, in 2014 both the sheet-fed offset segment, and the web and special press division posted an operating profit.

In the sheet-fed offset segment, an operating loss, after special items, of 77.6 million EUR (83 million USD) become an operating profit of 11.5 million EUR (12.3 million USD). Revenue in the sheet-fed offset segment was 590.6 million EUR (631 million USD) in 2014, compared to 571.9 million EUR (610.6 million USD) in 2013.

In the web and special press division, an operating loss, after special items, of 53.1 million EUR (56.7 million USD) become an operating profit of 2.6 million EUR (2.8 million USD). Revenue in the web and special press division was 509.5 million EUR (544 million USD) in 2014, down from 527.8 million EUR (563.4 million USD) in 2013.

Order intake at KBA in 2014 was characterized by negative external impacts resulting from numerous global conflicts, economic weakness in parts of Europe and in key emerging countries, as well as slower growth in China. KBA said order intake for its sheet-fed offset segment benefitted from the company's strong position in folding carton printing and metal decorating.

Looking ahead, KBA said it sees no overall growth for the global press market in 2015 given the raft of ‘imponderables’ impacting the global economy.

However, the group’s management board perceive further opportunities for growth predominantly in digital and packaging printing.

KBA already has a strong footing in the growing packaging market and in 2015 the company aims to push forward intensely with the integration of KBA-Flexotecnica, which operates in the flexible packaging market.

KBA-Kammann, which specializes in systems for the decoration of premium hollow containers, has formed a partnership with KBA-MePrint to develop a new press for printing high-quality labels, the Varius LX-TX.

For coding system specialist KBA-Metronic, the target is further growth in Asia.

Additionally, the group intends to increase its service and trading sales.

In digital printing KBA aims to focus more on applications with challenging materials and large substrate widths. Flexible digital press platforms were developed in 2014 with the RotaJET L and RotaJET VL.

Furthermore, the first results are expected from KBA’s partnership with HP for the development of an inkjet press for the digital corrugated printing sector.

KBA added that, despite further special expenses of 10 million EUR (10.7 million USD), the rise in the group operating profit to 14.1 million EUR (15.1 million USD) was significantly higher than planned a year ago. Pre-tax profit (EBT) came to 5.5 million EUR (5.9 million USD) and a group net profit of 300,000 EUR (320,500 USD) also exceeded the forecast for 2014.

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, KBA president and chief executive officer, said: ‘We made rapid progress in the first twelve months of the most extensive realignment project in our company’s recent history and were pleased to see its positive effects earlier than anticipated.’

*currency conversions via xe.com/ucc, using exchange rate at 11:00 CET on March 20, 2015

David Pittman

David Pittman

  • Former deputy editor