KBA UK orders solid despite credit crunch

KBA’s backlog of orders for sheetfed presses shrank from €307m (£244m) to €279m in the six months to 30 June, but a company spokesman told Packaging News the credit crunch was not having an impact on securing sales to UK printers.

He added a large proportion of sheetfed orders placed at Drupa were from large-format and packaging printers, underscoring KBA’s “pole position in the global market”. Packaging accounts for 30% of the firm’s UK turnover.

The volume of orders for sheetfed presses, which includes the Rapida 162 packaging press, fell by 2.4% to €367m, while web press orders dropped 2.5% to €351m.

KBA said a “big increase in firm bookings” would be needed in the third quarter to maintain production in the fourth quarter and beyond, although the volume of orders on hand for web and special presses, at €566m, is only marginally lower than 12 months ago.

Sheetfed sales in the first half fell by 17% to €310m on total sales of €656m, also down 17%, and this, combined with the cost of exhibiting at Drupa, caused pre-tax profit to plunge from €26m to €2.4m.

German sales rose 6% to €101m and the proportion generated by the rest of Europe remained stable at 54%.

KBA president and chief executive Albrecht Bolza-Schunemann said meeting the predicted sales target of €1.6bn and a pre-tax profit of around €63m, the same as 2007, would pose “something of a challenge”.

“But as long as there is a real chance to reach our targets we see no reason to lower our sights. Any significant deviations will be made public without delay.”

Popular Articles