KBA orders grow on success of ‘high-volume and niche products’

German press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) claimed to ‘buck the industry trend in 2011’ by posting pre-tax group profit for the third year in succession, according to preliminary financial figures issued on March 2.
 
2011 group sales were marginally lower than in 2010 following slacker demand in the second six months and delays to shipments in the fourth quarter, KBA said. However, at more than €1.5 billion, the volume of new orders surpassed the prior-year figure by over 20 percent, primarily due to brisk demand for special presses.
 
The order backlog at year-end topped the €800m mark, exceeding the prior-year figure of €440.8m by over 80 percent.
 
The full 2011 financial results will be release on March 30, while KBA added that it has had a good start to 2012 in terms of sales and new orders.
 
‘As management indicated at an analysts’ conference on December 9, 2011, while the world’s second-largest press manufacturer failed to achieve its growth targets for sales and earnings, its performance was once again above the industry average,’ KBA said in a statements. ‘A major contributory factor was the group’s balance of high-volume and niche products.’