Ocs sales climbed 7% to 485m (E776m) in the first quarter of 2001, fuelled by strong growth in its Production Printing Systems (PPS) business.


Sales jumped 12% to 120m in PPS, with a heavyweight performance in the electronic production printing sector and printing and publishing activities.


Oc UK managing director Mike Cornish said book publishing was a growth area for the companys PPS business.


"We have started to make progress here although not as fast as we originally thought," said Cornish.


He also pointed to Wide Format Printing Systems where sales rose 8% to 131m and a raft of new wide-format products being launched this year, including a replacement for the 9800 and three wide-format printers.


Sales in Document Printing Systems edged up 4% to 234m. A highlight for 2001 will be the launch of the high-speed DPS 400 in June.


Net income for Q1 was down 12.9% year-on-year to 17.6m. Oc attributed the drop to an increase in financial expenses and a higher effective tax rate.


Oc predicted that income in the second quarter would be lower than last years figure due to uncertainties in the US economy and high costs for new product launches.


If the economic situation does not worsen then Oc expected 2001s financial results to mirror last years.


"Its a tough market," added Cornish.


But from the third quarter the contribution of the new launches should boost operating income and net income, the group said.


Story by Sally Nash