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KBA Reports Weak First Quarter

KBA today released results for its first quarter of the current fiscal year, stating that its sales were behind schedule for this period. The group faced a reduction of 15.5 percent in new orders, down to €200 million compared to €236.6 million in 2012. KBA posted an operating loss of €16.9 million for the quarter.

Despite these numbers, however, KBA’s management stands by its sales and earnings forecasts for 2013, attributing some of its shortfall to shipments postponed by customers. The company predicts revenues matching that of 2012 (€1,294 million) and a modest improvement in pre-tax earnings. KBA’s management bases its forecast on deliveries scheduled for the following months and a rise in sheetfed orders expected in May from the world’s second-largest trade fair, China Print, in Beijing.

KBA Vice-President and CFO Dr. Axel Kaufmann said: “The ongoing turn-around program in place until the end of 2014 in the competitive sheetfed and web offset business should noticeably improve earnings. Along with the continuing realignment of production capacity and amendments to wage agreements effective since the beginning of the year, there are also cost-saving measures in place in group purchasing and administration.”

President and CEO Claus Bolza-Schünemann stated that he sees growth potential in digital printing and flexible packaging for KBA: “With the digital KBA RotaJET 76 and the expansion of our product range for packaging with own products as well as the planned takeover of Italian manufacturer, Flexotecnica, we aim to compensate for the smaller market for traditional sheetfed and web offset presses with growing print markets.

“This strategy demands time and appropriate investment which, thanks to KBA’s solid financial profile, can be realized with our own means,” continued Bolza-Schünemann. “In 2013, the new market segments will only make a limited contribution to group sales and earnings, however, this should change in the midterm.”