KBA’s Frankenthal Press Plant Celebrating Its 150th Jubilee

After ten years of healthy sales and earnings growth, in 2003 the KBA group posted a €30m loss. The Kusel plant closed at the end of the year, the Berlin plant in December 2004. Between 2003 and 2005 the workforce in Würzburg and Frankenthal was also cut.

In subsequent years growth in the KBA group was driven by a rapidly expanding sheetfed division, brisker sales of web presses and the acquisition of further small companies. In 2006 and 2007 the group posted a record performance, with 8,000 employees generating sales in excess of €1.7bn and healthy profits.