The German industrial conglomerate posted sales up 7% to €3.5bn (£2.7bn) in 2015, a new record for the business. Pre-tax profits were up 15% at €144m.
Possehl also owns businesses in construction and cleaning machinery. It described Manroland Web Systems and Böwe Systec as divisions that had been “particularly affected by structural transitions” but were now the “main motor” behind its improved figures.
Incoming orders at Manroland Web Systems increased by 10% to €260m and it filed earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €6.2m. The company said its market share of new web press orders worldwide had increased from 36% to 45%.
Possehl acquired the Manroland web business out of administration four years ago.
It cited growing demand in the US and Western Europe, where orders included four 96pp Lithoman presses. It also described its FoldLine and FormerLine inline finishing systems for industrial digital printing applications – including books as well as newspapers – as “taking the world by storm”. It plans to showcase the digital finishing lines at Drupa.
Mengis Druck in Switzerland claimed a world first last summer when it began producing Swiss daily newspaper Walliser Bote completely digitally, using a HP T400 inkjet web linked to a Manroland Web Systems Foldline variable finishing line.
“Our growth is based on market share gains in a stagnating market environment,” said Manroland Web Systems managing director Jörn Gossé.
Last month former Bielomatik executive Alexander Wassermann started working alongside Gossé as part of a planned handover process, as Gossé is planning to relocate and take up a new role in northern Germany “in the medium term”.
High-volume mailing systems specialist Böwe Systec made a profit on sales that were up 4%, although Possehl did not release a detailed breakdown of the firm’s figures. It bought Böwe Systec in November 2010.
In a statement, Possehl chairman Uwe Lüders said: “Our trademark cautious and conservative accounting policies mean that we will remain in a position to tackles risks that might unexpectedly arise from an international economy that is in slowdown.”
Possehl has around 12,000 employees worldwide.
