Despite a 15 per cent fall in sales, KBA would have been in profit had it not been for its Fit@All reorganisation programme.

The German press maker says with this and a 9.3 per cent fall in orders, operating profit reached 24.5 million Euros before special items.

Financial statements for 2013 published at the end of last week show an expected lower order intake in the post-DRUPA year of 2013. Positive earnings strained by one-off impairments and high provisions for special expenses from the Fit@All realignment programme.

Chief executive and president Claus Bolza-Schünemann says financial repercussions of the project will continue into 2014, but he expects a “notable turnaround” in 2015 earnings and a return to sustained profitability by 2016 at the latest.

The company quotes VDMA statistics which show orders and sales of printing equipment produced in Germany fell by up to ten per cent as a result of economic impacts of the sovereign debt crisis in parts of Europe, slower economic growth in the BRIC countries, negative currency effects in emerging markets, changes in media consumption and ongoing consolidation in the printing industry in industrialised countries.

Despite a decline in group sales of nearly 200 million Euros and associated lower contribution margins, KBA posted an operating profit before special items of 24.5 million Euros. Savings in personnel costs from new wage agreements in Würzburg and Radebeul were offset by a smaller earnings contribution of special presses and poor capacity utilisation levels at the web press plants.

Costs of the Fit@All programme and impairments of fixed assets were 155.2 million Euros in 2013, causing an operating loss after special items of 130.7 million Euros, and a loss of 138.1 million Euros. As a result, no dividend is being paid.

China remains the company’s largest single market, with the Asia-Pacific contributing 27.4 per cent to group sales.