In a letter to shareholders KBA president Albrecht Bolza-Schnemann said: "There will be further substantial improvement by the end of the year."

When added to the first two quarters of 2004 the results show the firm has managed to cut its pre-tax losses by 75% in the corresponding period from 28.7m (including restructuring costs) in 2003 to 6.8m.

Sales for the same three-quarter period were up 16.8%, from 566.6m in 2003 to 661.6m. The figures also showed a 21.7% increase in new order volume in the first nine months of 2004.

Sales for sheetfed presses fell short of the firm's "ambitious" target for the period, but still rose by 9.8% on 2003, but the web and special press division sales showed an impressive growth of 24.4%.

The KBA board believes the group is still on schedule to reach its sales target of 980m, and post a year end pre-tax profit. It is also in the process of opening talks with workers on longer and more flexible hours, in a drive to "take the strain off costs and improve earnings".

Story by Darryl Danielli