Order intake rose to €679.3m in the first six months, which enabled the company to return staff at its sheetfed plants to full-time working conditions and confirm its outlook for the year of a sales upswing of 7.5% to more than €1.1bn.

Sales for the six months ending 30 June 2010 were up 4.5% to €473.2m, while pre-tax losses improved from €47.4m to €22m, €21.3m of which was booked in the first quarter. For the second quarter, KBA posted an operating profit of €500,000.

Order backlog midway through the year stood at €541.1m, up from €537.8m a year ago when the company was working through orders for web presses booked before the financial crisis. Cashflow improved from -€41.2m at the end of the first quarter to -€18.1m at the end of June.

Chief executive Helge Hansen said: "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 €2.7m 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."

Geographically, Europe continued to be sluggish, with KBA's domestic sales accounting for 13.8% and the proportion of sales in Europe as a whole halving to 29.5%. The US also continued to struggle, although Latin America and Africa grew its share to 18.1% mainly down to the former.

For the UK, managing director Christian Knapp said sales were still "relatively flat at this point".

"After Ipex there was a definite lull, and we're now trying to make sure the orders taken at Ipex are financially viable. There's still a reluctance to invest in the UK, although I do now see a market change. There's a lot more interest. It still means it will be a difficult period to year-end, but the trends for 2011 are good."

The comany added that it was still looking at other opportunities in the market, despite recently being rebuffed by Manroland after offering to open talks on consolidation plans.

KBA marketing director Klaus Schmidt said: "Without a doubt the market requires a further consolidation. KBA is always open to constructive discussions and strong denials are part of the game and don't change the need."