Strong sales of the UltraStream 2000 contributed to a profitable fourth quarter with record revenues for Indigo.


But the firm posted an annual loss and warned that its profitability next year would depend on the strength of the US economy.


"I predict break-even or profitability next year," said chief financial officer Alon Bar-Shany. "The only cloud in the sky at this time is the financial climate, especially in the US, but we havent seen any signs of it yet."


Revenue for the fourth quarter was up 15% to 34m ($49.4m) with a net income of 2m compared to a loss of 1.4m the previous year.


For the year, sales rose 13.6% to 114m. Indigos installed base rose by nearly half to around 1,500, which includes 100 UltraStreams.


Despite the increase in sales, losses rose from 950,000 to 8.1m. Indigo attributed this to the cost of Drupa and increased R&D costs.


The firm upped R&D spending by 20% to 4.7m last year. R&D is focused on sending the Publisher 8000 to beta sites by the end of the year and the joint Hewlett-Packard project, leaving the Ebony black-and-white press on hold. "After Drupa we prioriti-sed R&D," said Bar-Shany. "Black-and-white is not the most lucrative market at this stage."


HP will launch its OEMd version of the TurboStream in the first half of the year, which is expected to result in sales in the second half of next year.


Story by Barney Cox