Following KBA issuing a 2.5% price rise after it described the sheetfed press market as "too price driven", Langley Holdings chairman Tony Langley has signalled that he is happy with current press prices despite the fact they haven’t risen in the past five years.

"Whilst our competitors are losing money at current price levels, we are not. Our company’s cost base is much lower, so I am content to sit it out," said Langley in a statement.

Manroland Sheetfed’s unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012 show a pre-tax profit of €68.9m on turnover of €358m and net assets of some €80.9m.

However, while the company has secured more than 100 press sales globally since it was rescued by Langley, the company is yet to secure its first sheetfed press sale in the UK in the 11 months since Langley bought Manroland’s UK arm out of administration.

Meanwhile, Langley Holdings audited accounts for the same period (excluding Manroland) show a pre-tax profit of €121m on turnover of €527m, meaning the combined organisation would have 2012 revenues of around €885m and pre-tax profits of €190m.

The accounts also reveal that Langley acquired Manroland Sheetfed for around €80m, including €3m costs and management fees, and the balance on property, plant and equipment, inventories, receivables, international subsidiaries and goodwill.

Langley has already made a €25.2m gain on the purchase of Manroland’s Offenbach facility and its Italian headquarters, which were acquired for €23.3m and have since been revalued at €48.4m.

Commenting on the significant discount at which Langley acquired the properties, a spokeswoman for the group said: "Due to the substantial losses and major restructuring required in Manroland AG, the administrator was forced to dispose of the assets at a discount.

"The property was independently valued by Angermann Valuation and Advisory GmbH [which] also calculated a higher ‘value to the business’ figure of €62m [although] the lower value was taken for prudence."

Manoland Sheetfed will publish its audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012 in March and from 2013 it will be incorporated into Langley Holdings’ group accounts.

The decision not to combine the two sooner was down to the "substantial non-recurring costs and gains" arising from the insolvency of Manroland AG and the restructuring of the Sheetfed division post-acquisition, which would have "distorted the results of the group".

Since acquiring the business in February 2012, Langley Holdings said Manroland Sheetfed had been transformed from "the train-crash that hit the buffers in November 2011…into a company that can now break even producing just 100 presses per year".

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