Of the 102 businesses that responded to the quarterly print trading trends survey, which was carried out between 3 and 11 January, 62% said they expected no change in domestic order levels in Q1 with just over half of the remaining respondents expecting an increase.
Just 7% said that orders were lower than usual for the time of year while 17% said that the order books were currently looking healthier than at the same time in 2012.
However although a majority of 61% reported steady confidence levels, only 7% expected the market to pick up in the next quarter while 30% predicted that it will become weaker.
The top three business concerns were: competitors pricing below costs – a worry cited by 79% of respondents; customer late payments, the second biggest concern for 30% of survey respondents, almost 70% of whom had agreed to longer payment terms from customers to secure work; and weak productivity levels, which 22% of respondents highlighted, up from 5% in the last survey.
Once again, capacity was a major issue and of the 96% that reported working below capacity in Q4, 88% said they were under-using more than 10% and 3% said they used less than half. Only 4% reported working to full capacity.
Encouragingly though, employment among survey respondents appears to be stable with 71% expecting to maintain existing workforce levels in Q1 and those that shed staff in Q4 being offset by those that took on additional staff.
Product innovation and training are key areas of investment for UK printers with 89% and 80% respectively expecting to commit more resources in these areas. Almost 60% said they intended to invest in plant and machinery with a similar number anticipating expenditure on new construction or building alterations.
BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said that the industry was continuing to "rise to the challenges" of the operating environment.
She added: "It is heartening that despite the ongoing price concerns companies are continuing to invest in operational enhancements that are allowing them to achieve much needed improvements in profitability.
"The BPIF will continue to lobby both government and the financial community to gain support for the industry."
