Only the financial services division let the side down, year-on-year sales dropping by 25.8% to 46m.

"It looks like the positive trend in the print media industry is set to continue throughout the current financial year," Heidelberg chief executive Bernhard Schreier said.

Sales rose by 12% to 2.45bn, with sales in the fourth quarter up by 18% on 2004/5 Q4. Press sales were up 12.3% and post-press sales and incoming orders were up for the first time, by 14% and 15% respectively, although losses in that division increased due to a one-off goodwill depreciation of 4.4m.

Operating profit was up by 31% to 190m, with an EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) yield of 7.7% on sales. Net profit more than doubled year-on-year to 92m.

Incoming orders were up by 3%, despite being compared to an already high 2.4bn figure for the previous year, which included Drupa.

The results have fulfilled the firm's expectations, but Heidelberg's chief financial officer Herbert Meyer remains cautious.

"Economic risks such as exchange rate movements and raw material and energy prices are still very much a factor," he said.