Sheetfed sales exceeded those of web for the first time ever at KBA in Q1.


The worlds third largest press manufacturer reported sheetfed sales of 81.6m (E135.4m) in the first three months, compared with web sales of 52.9m.


This swing in favour of sheetfed can partly be attributed to delays in shipments of some newspaper web presses to the Far East and Scandinavia, which will now be delivered in the second and third quarters.
Nonetheless sheetfed orders are on the up. New order value totalled 86.9m, 4.7% up on the previous year.


Director of marketing Klaus Schmidt predicted that future prospects for sheetfed sales remained good in Italy, Germany and France, and that there was room for growth in the UK.


Web orders hit a record high in Q1 and were valued at 153.4m. This figure was given a healthy boost by
the 50m five-flexo press newspaper order from Harmsworth Quays in London.
But despite some orders being up for grabs in Switzerland, Schmidt predicted newspaper sales would slow in the coming years.


We see a decrease in big projects in the newspaper industry, especially in Europe, as there has been a lot of investment in the last three or four years, he said.
Group net income for the quarter was up 20.8% at 5.8m, and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to 5.1m.


Story by Adam Hill