The announcement, which was made in a statement this morning to the German stock exchange, comes despite initial reports of a positive showing at Drupa in a statement made in June and defies KBA's expected earning of €62.3m (£49.5m).

In the statement, KBA said that the increase in sheetfed orders anticipated following "a sizeable volume of contracts negotiated at Drupa" had failed to materialise as printers struggled to raise money to support the deals.

The profit warning comes just over a month after the group president and CEO Albrecht Bolza-Schünemann said the pre-tax profit target of last year's €62.3m posed "something of a challenge" but added that he saw "no reason to lower our sights".

Christian Knapp, managing director of KBA UK, said that although the UK market mirrors the rest of Europe, the UK division went to Drupa with lower expectations.

"We went with a more cautious approach, he said. The strengthening of the euro against the pound had put pressure on prices for our UK customers with increases of about 20%."

He also said that he was optimistic about the future: "A decision to delay buying a new press does not mean that the press does not have to be bought.

"When the tide turns there will be a lot of pent-up demand which in turn will translate into sales."

KBA shares were down nearly 13% on the news on the Xetra exchange, trading at €11.90 (£9.52) at 10.22am BST.

The news comes just days after rival Heidelberg announced it was restructuring its UK division and closing its Leeds site to reflect the changing face of the UK print industry.