This compared to a pre-tax profit of €10.8m on group sales of €916.2m over the same period in 2012. The manufacturer has made a net loss so far this year of €20.2m (2012: €4.5m).
The company cited market and economic developments for the results, despite restructuring efforts already taking effect and forecasted further negative impact from ongoing restructuring costs and impairments to take effect by the end of the year.
New orders for the nine months to the end of September 2013 were down 14.1% to €709.6m compared to last year, which was boosted by Drupa. Order backlog, meanwhile was down to €627.7m (2012: €735.5m).
Across its divisions, sheetfed offset presses posted a €7.8m loss in the first nine months of the year, however this was an improvement on the €21.3m losses it reported at the same point in 2012. Revenues in the division were down 3.5% to €381.4 while order intake dropped 11.5% to €458.5m.
The web and special press division continued to suffer from the slowdown in web sales with a 33.1% decline in revenues over the period to €348.5m (2012: €520.8m) and orders down by 18.5% on the same period last year to €251.1m. An operating loss of €2.9m compared to the profit of €40.2m posted last year was blamed on “insufficient capacity utilisation” of web press facilities and lower special press revenues.
Free cashflow was €2.1m with available funds standing at €183.7m, according to the financial statement.
The results prompted KBA to revise down its initial group annual sales target of €1.3bn to €1.1bn by the end of the year.
Sales revenue from web and special presses was expected to continue to fall further behind last year’s figures, while the manufacturer’s metal decorating and industrial coding divisions were forecasted to reach or even exceed targets.
KBA’s chief financial officer Axel Kaufmann said: “Along with the total group sales to be generated by the end of the year, the product mix delivered as well as the extraordinary expenses for restructuring measures and impairments will have a significant impact on the annual result in the group.
“Currently this amount is not yet foreseeable, but will lead to a loss in 2013. Excluding special items, we are still targeting a positive operating result and balanced group earnings before taxes.”
Restructuring is set to continue and the total workforce at the end of September was 6,218, 94 less than at the same point in 2012.
KBA chief executive Claus Bolza-Schünemann: “We will provide further information on group realignment by the end of the year as soon as the concept planned is adopted by the management and supervisory boards.”
“KBA aims to compensate at least in part for the loss in business volume in other fields and sustainably strengthen profitability by expanding its service activities and its product portfolio for growing market segments.
"Following initial market success in digital printing, Kammann Maschinenbau joined the KBA Group in the third quarter and the majority takeover of the Italian press manufacturer Flexotecnica will also be completed shortly," he added.
