History
2001 - 2004
2001 Würzburg/Frankenthal/Radebeul
The joint venture between KBA and Scitex is terminated by mutual agreement. KBA takes over all development, marketing, production and service activities for the 74 Karat.
To safeguard its pole position in the global security printing market in the long term KBA acquires its partner of fifty years´ standing, De La Rue Giori in Lausanne.
2002 Würzburg/Frankenthal/Radebeul
Market launch at Ipex of the ultra-compact Genius 52 – a revolutionary B3 press developed jointly by KBA and Metronic.
Unveiling of the world’s first large-format 8-colour perfector press, the Rapida 162.
Inauguration of the first two-across Cortina at Reiff Zeitungsdruck in Offenburg, Germany.
Annual group turnover at an all-time high of €1.35bn.
2003 Würzburg/Frankenthal/Radebeul
The economic downturn that hit many markets in 2001, causing a big drop in advertising, continues to impact heavily on sales of KBA newspaper presses, though sheetfed sales remain firm, bucking the industry trend. Annual sales, at just over €1.2bn, ares roughly 10% down on 2002, and for the first time in nine years both the KBA group and its parent company post a sizeable loss. Far-reaching restructuring measures initiated at our web press facilities result in the closure of our assembly plant in Kusel at the end of the year. The fate of our Berlin operation is hanging in the balance.
In spring 2003 KBA acquires Bauer+ Kunzi, a specialist manufacturer of metal-decorating presses based in Ditzingen, near Stuttgart. The acquisition of this long-standing alliance partner propels KBA to the pole position in metal-decorating technology.
In the second half of the year newspaper publishers start dusting off some of the investment programmes shelved in the wake of the economic slowdown. At IfraExpo in Leipzig KBA announces the sale of the first Cortina waterless newspaper offset press to Dutch printer Rodi Rotatiedruk, additional press orders from Gannett (USA), the world’s biggest newspaper publishing house, and a major contract from Rizzoli Corriere della Sera (RCS) in Italy for nine Commanders and two Comets.
In November our engineers in Radebeul successfully conclude the first series of print tests on a new generation of super-large sheetfed presses, the Rapida 205 and Rapida 185, with which we are aiming to extend our technological and market lead in large formats. Nine of these new presses are sold to printers in Europe and North America within just a few months.
Will investment pick up in 2004? Things look up as KBA Frankenthal announces the sale of 12 heatset presses in less than three months.
At the end of November KBA agrees to take a majority stake in Metronic, based in Veitshöchheim near Würzburg. Effective from the beginning of 2004, the move follows two years of collaboration on the B3 Genius 52 and is in keeping with our group strategy of expanding into high-potential niche markets. Established by Torald L Rohloff in 1972, Metronic manufactures UV offset systems for printing CDs, CDRs, DVDs and plastic cards, and industrial ID devices incorporating inkjet, hot-stamping, laser and/or thermal transfer technology. The company’s 300-strong workforce generates annual sales of around €35m. We anticipate that cost efficiencies can be gained in a number of areas.
2004 Würzburg/Frankenthal/Radebeul
2004 is a year of innovation, with a succession of new product launches and upgrades across the board. In the sheetfed division these include a sleek new design, higher output and more extensive automation for our half-format Rapida 74 plus a waterless, keyless version called the Rapida 74 G, a new generation of our Rapida 105 medium-format sheetfed press with optional pull-lay-free infeed (a world first!), performance enhancements for our existing large-format presses and a new superlarge press, the Rapida 205, for a sheet 2 metres (79in) wide.
Our web and special press division is no less prolific. In the spring a prototype of our four-by-one Prisma newspaper press is demonstrated at our Würzburg facility, and the first batch of orders follows soon after. May sees the launch of a high-performance commercial press, the Compacta 217, at the Drupa trade fair in Düsseldorf and a hugely successful open house entitled “Banknote Horizons” at our specialist security press subsidiary KBA-GIORI in Lausanne to showcase the revamped range of products and services it offers. In September Switzerland is also the venue for the inauguration of the world’s first triple-width satellite newspaper press, a Commander 6/2 at Tamedia in Zurich. Shortly afterwards the first 48-page version of our Cortina compact waterless newspaper press ships to the Netherlands and maul-belser in Nuremberg hits the button on the world’s first rotogravure press for a web width of 4.32m – a TR12B boasting a string of ingenious new features.
At the end of September we acquire the remaining shares in industrial ID systems and UV offset press specialist Metronic, renaming it KBA-Metronic.
Restructuring measures are concluded with the closure of our Berlin plant at the end of the year. The cost and efficiency gains achieved, and the stimulus provided by Drupa, help lift net profit to €11.9m on record sales of more than €1.42bn – a relatively rapid turnaround from the substantial loss of 2003.
