KBA reports modest growth

The manufacturer outlines that the depth of the global market slump is reflected in the group year-end backlog of €335m, its lowest level for more than twenty years. Web and special presses accounted for €242.8m of the backlog, sheetfed presses for €92.2m.

KBA says that despite the drop in sales it was one of few manufactures in the international market to post a profit in 2009 and adjust capacities to diminished market volumes without raising debt.

The company also outlines that domestic sales plummeted its export level remained virtually unchanged at 84.5 per cent.

While sales generated in Europe nosedived from 51.4 per cent to just 36 per cent, continuing brisk demand from China and Asia Pacific markets were once again second only to Europe in their significance for the group, generating 22.5 per cent of total sales compared to 17.7 per cent in 2008.

Helge Hansen, president of KBA says, “While productivity-boosting investment among printers no longer declined over the past few months, neither did it soar. Many prospective investors have adopted a watching brief, which has impacted on new orders.

He continues, “While this will change as the economy rebounds, what will remain are the effects on our business of the structural transition in the media industry. Markets permitting, we are targeting a modest improvement in group sales and profits for the year.”

 

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