History

Expansion into a new high-growth market – decorative printing – with the inauguration in April at German printer Decopress, Soest, of the first TR5D. 

The acquisition of Stuttgart-based LTG Print Systems Holding by KBA subsidiary Bauer+Kunzi in mid-year continues KBA’s successful strategy of acquisition in high-potential niche markets and moves it up to the pole position in the metal-decorating press sector. 

The acquisition of Stuttgart-based LTG Print Systems Holding by KBA subsidiary Bauer+Kunzi in mid-year continues KBA’s successful strategy of acquisition in high-potential niche markets and moves it up to the pole position in the metal-decorating press sector. 

The acquisition of Stuttgart-based LTG Print Systems Holding by KBA subsidiary Bauer+Kunzi in mid-year continues KBA’s successful strategy of acquisition in high-potential niche markets and moves it up to the pole position in the metal-decorating press sector. 

KBA reaffirms its innovative credentials in newspaper technology with two revolutionary presses: the ultra-compact Cortina and Commander CT. Their success is reflected in sales, which include Cortina 6/2 press lines for prominent French newspaper Le Figaro in Paris and longstanding KBA customer M. DuMont Schauberg in Cologne. 

In sheetfed offset, KBA sets a milestone with DriveTronic SPC dedicated cylinder drives for the Rapida 105. In mid-September, some 500 print professionals attend demonstrations in Radebeul of a new system that dramatically enhances productivity with the 105 by allowing simultaneous plate changing. 

Just one week later, under the banner "The future is Compact", KBA Würzburg invites members of the international newspaper industry to the inauguration of the first Commander CT, the product of an innovative alliance between KBA and the Main-Post media group. The second press to leave the production line is snapped up by another longstanding KBA customer, Spanish newspaper the Heraldo de Aragón in Saragossa. 

With dwindling circulations and catalogue pagination clouding prospects in the rotogravure sector, in September KBA sells off the entire business to Italian manufacturer Cerutti. 

The 14th Drupa opens in Düsseldorf on 29 May. KBA’s 3,400m² stand at this definitive print media event is a showcase for new advances in sheetfed and commercial web press technology, newspaper production, digital printshop networking, web to print and green printing. On 10 June a medium-format Rapida 106 on the KBA stand at Drupa printed 15 jobs, each with 520 saleable sheets, in just 59 minutes and 36 seconds. The demo included 14 complete makereadies. The fair closes on 11 June in an atmosphere of optimism as industry players report a raft of new orders. 

But the knock-on effects of the smouldering financial crisis, which flares up in mid-September, forces prospective buyers to postpone or cancel many of the contracts inked at Drupa. Following the sale of multi-unit Commander CT and Cortina newspaper press lines to the Daily News in New York and Gulf News in Dubai, autumn sees declining ad revenues and widespread uncertainty impacting on investment in web presses as well. The sheetfed sector, where production cycles are much shorter, is hit even harder. 

As a result group sales slide by around 10% to €1.53bn. A substantial charge for adjusting capacity to the smaller global market volume anticipated for the medium term contributes to a pre-tax loss of €87.1m.