Xeikons goal is to "restore confidence" in the business following its decision to file for creditor protection, prior to revealing a 25.9m ($37.4m) loss for the first nine months of the year.

Last Friday (9 November) the company filed for concordat, the Belgian equivalent of the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Belgian Courts will make a decision on the companys proposals within two weeks.

In June Xeikon announced that it planned to increase its borrowings by 28.6m to see it through the lean period caused by the loss of the Xerox sales channel and the troubled introduction of the CSP 320 D, its first cut-sheet model.

Delays in securing the additional finance left the firm with no option but to seek protection.

"We initiated a private placement process in June, but it hasnt come to fruition yet," said executive chairman Gino Despeghel. "The world then was totally different the environment for equity investment is abysmal today. Any investor is taking more time to make a decision and its the same when buying machines."

Despeghel said it was "business as usual" while the firm worked to put finance in place, and hoped to avoid a damaging loss of confidence by customers.

"There may be hesitation from customers, but it is unlikely that this company will cease to exist. We need to sort out our financing, and are hopeful that we will find an industrial or financial partner it is not the idea to sell the company," he added. "We hope we will look back on this as a difficult period. We hope to get out of it, and are humble."

Xeikon resellers MAN Roland and Openshaw issued supportive statements. Murray Lock of PPS said the firm was "convinced that the business with the DICO systems and consumables will continue", while Openshaws Tony Halker described it as "a precursor to restructuring we knew would happen".

Xeikons recent fortunes have seen seismic changes, including the acquisitions of Nipsons printing business and Agfas digital printing division.

Agfa retains a 25% stake in Xeikon, and will take a 8.6m (E14m) extraordinary charge as a result of last weeks events.

Story by Jo Francis