Dave Lewis, general manager, KBA Australasia told Australian Printer, “KBA is doing pretty good in Australia despite the tough conditions in the industry. We have made some huge sales, the significant ones of mention being a KBA Rapida 106 installed by Western Australian packaging company Jaypak, and Sydney based Labelcraft which also invested in KBA technology, purchasing a B1 Rapida 105 six-colour press.”

Following a loss of €20.4m the previous year, operating profit stands currently at €20.5m, an improvement of €40.9m. Pre-tax earnings (EBT) rose to €12.5m compared to the half-year figure of €7.9m and also the prior-year loss of €26.6m. After tax, the group posted a net profit of €5.9m, which corresponds to earnings per share of €0.36.

Web and speciality press sales were up by 34 per cent on last year to €521m, while sheetfed sales were flat at €395m, meaning web and speciality presses overtook sheetfed.

Sheetfed orders were up 10 per cent on 2011 thanks to drupa, but overall order intake including web presses of €826m failed to achieve last year’s record high of €1,155.7m, which was boosted by several major orders for special presses.

At €735.5m order backlog at the end of September saw a €171m increase on the corresponding figure for 2010, but failed to meet last year’s figure by €75m (2011: €810.8m).

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, president and CEO, KBA says “We are on target as far as the whole year is concerned.”

Asia Pacific group sales attributed to 24.4 per cent while there was a slide in German sales compared to 2011. In the first nine months sales to the rest of Europe contributed only 29.7 per cent of the group total down from 36.1 per cent last year dampened by weak economies of several states.

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