KBA Halves Loss with Spike in Press Orders

Outlook for second half-year
Demand for printing presses has picked up strongly in the past five months, as a result of which both the group order intake and the level of plant utilisation have increased substantially. So despite the cut in personnel and the fact that more work has been brought in-house, Hansen stands by his previous projection for the current year of an increase of some 7.5% in sales to more than €1.1 billion (2009: €1.05 billion): “We are confident that the substantial improvement in performance compared to the first six months of 2009 will continue for the rest of the year, and that we shall post a single-digit rise in sales and a bigger pre-tax profit than the €2.7 million in 2009. Precisely how high earnings are will essentially depend on our niche markets, with their shorter business cycles, on our customer services and on a sustained economic revival.”