Bernhard Schreier, chief executive of Heidelberg, said: "At this point, of course, we can only give our first impressions of how Drupa is progressing so far.

"We will only be able to say with certainty how the interest shown by buyers ultimately translates into real orders and whether it generates actual sales when we publish information on the first quarter at the start of August. I can say, however, that we have so far met our expectations."

Deals announced since Drupa began include Lemon Press and Colourworld both buying a Speedmaster XL 75+LX, and the Stephens and George Group installing an XL 105 long perfector.

Heidelberg said it would publish a detailed sales forecast for the 2008/2009 financial year on 5 August, and that it would continue taking measures to improve the company's cost and earnings structure.

This includes plans to move more sourcing beyond Europe and expand production in China, as well as boosting activities in areas that are less cyclical than printing machinery.

During the first week of the trade show, more than £360m worth of software, equipment and services were sold, as 213,000 visitors passed through the doors of Drupa.