The press manufacturer's dip into the red came off the back of a 10.1% drop in sales, from €1.7bn to €1.5bn, and a 19.7% decline in order intake, from €1.5bn to €1.2bn.

KBA's sheetfed division was hardest hit, dropping 16% from €857m to €714m, while web suffered less slipping from €847 to €818 – a drop of 3%.

The company's €170m slide in sales was exacerbated by provisions and write-downs totalling €93.3m, which led to an operating loss of €79.9m, down from a profit of €65.7m in 2007.

However, despite the gloomy economic outlook, Knapp claimed that KBA's variety of products would keep it going through the recession.

He added that he was confident that the UK, alongside the US, would be one of the first territories to find its way out of the current recession.

Knapp argued that KBA would be in a better position than many of its competitors, because its product range spans areas including B1, B2, large-format and packaging.

He said: "Luckily, we are well spread across a lot of areas, I think we will do better than the big value manufacturers and the results will show exactly that."

Knapp added that, for his own territory, he didn't see 2009 bringing any positive news, but that next year would see the start of a turnaround.

"This recession has hit the UK and the US faster and harder than the rest of the world; we have been feeling the cold chilly wind longer," he said.

"The UK has always been six months ahead of the continent and hopefully we will come out of it first as well. I am optimistic that by the beginning, or maybe the middle, of 2010 things will look up."

The company has said that it expects global sales in 2009 to be 20% lower than in 2008.

However, it added: "The timely implementation of the restructuring measures, which will mainly focus on sheetfed activities, will rapidly bring capacities and costs in line with the smaller global market anticipated in the medium term.

"The group payroll will be reduced to around 7,000 by the end of the year. Since provision was made in last year’s accounts for the necessary personnel cuts, write-downs and other remedial action, KBA is targeting a balanced pre-tax result (EBT) for 2009, provided global demand does not deteriorate any further."