KBA's operating profit swung from a €20.4m loss in Q1-3 2011 to a €20.5m profit this year, an improvement of more than €40m, while its €12.5m pre-tax profit reversed last year's €26.6m loss.

The German press manufacturer also recorded a small net profit of €5.9m on sales that were up 16.6% at €916.2m, although it highlighted disappointing sheetfed offset press sales of €395.4m, down 0.5% year-on-year.

The combination of "below target" sheetfed sales, high development and launch costs, and continuing pricing pressure meant that KBA's sheetfed division posted a loss of €21.4m. On the other hand the web and special press division benefitted in the current period from the high volume of orders last year.

This led to a 34.1% increase in sales to €520.8m in Q1-3 2012 and an improved profit of €41.9m for the division (Q1-3 2011: €1.7m). However, incoming orders were 55% lower at €308.2m due to last year's numbers having been boosted by a number of major orders.

Sheetfed press orders were up nearly 10%, rising from €472m to €517.8m, thanks to the positive effect of Drupa, which KBA said would be "more noticeable in the fourth quarter".

The board confirmed its full-year target to increase in group sales to over €1.2bn and said it would publish more details on 2012 and expectations for 2013 in February next year together with the preliminary figures for the current business year.

In addition, the group announced another cost-cutting scheme, to run until 2014, which chief executive Claus Bolza-Schünemann said would "not include further large-scale changes to the number of employees".

"We first aim to reduce general and administrative costs further, to divide the workload between the group’s locations more efficiently, optimise group purchasing plus the introduction of more flexible employee working times without extra costs," he added.