Breaking Even in 2009 – ‘What an achievement!'

Although the company had acted early in the year to trim overheads in the back office functions and tighten efficiency overall, Mr Knapp was pleased to point out that detail within the figures showed the KBA UK operation had also improved its performance in key areas: 

“Against a backdrop of zero new web commissions and a sheetfed press market down by 50% on its peak in 2007 it has been a considerable challenge to maintain our field sales activity while increasing our ancillary services,” says Mr Knapp, “but that is exactly what we have done.”  

The 2009 figures show service income on web and sheetfed presses to be slightly improved while the biggest mover was the Approved Consumables division which showed a 39% increase in sales over the previous year. “These areas are all about helping KBA users to get the very best from their machines to deliver the excellent print quality they expect, consistently and competitively,” explains Mr Knapp. “Extending our focus to operational support in this way has been a key factor in helping us reach our targets. I consider this to be an achievement on a par with our best years when sheetfed press sales were at three times the current level; we have so far survived the ‘perfect storm’ and we are well-placed to drive home the advantages of technological innovation now coming on-stream throughout our range of presses as markets recover and investment resumes.” 

The KBA (UK) Ltd figures came in the wake of its parent Group’s preliminary announcement of similarly encouraging ‘balanced’ figures for the year. Group headcount and production capacity were reduced by 20%, with turnover expected to be down by 31%, but the group's early action to address overcapacity and its 34% equity level place it well in comparison to its major press manufacturer counterparts.