Koenig & Bauer’s 165-year-old Albert-Frankenthal operation will close this month, as the parent reports a “massive” increase in its order intake and strong operating momentum.

The site in Frankenthal in western Germany, where Andreas Albert and Andreas Hamm established a business in 1861, is set to close at the end of the month, affect the jobs of 75 employees, with whom the mayor has expressed solidarity as negotiations continue.

In an update this month, the group reported the highest order intake for the quarter for two years, with a “significant” 21.4 per cent increase to 297.6 million Euros (A$483 million). In what chief executive Stephen Kimmich calls a “two-tier operating momentum”, a turnaround at its ‘special & new technologies’ segment – where orders were up 40.6 per cent – has compensated for the impact of current market pressure in the ‘paper & packaging sheetfed systems’ segment.

Kimmich said the strong start to the year was “a massive vote of confidence” from customers. “Our significant growth in order intake against the industry trend shows that we are doing our homework.”

He said “consistent implementation of our ‘Impact’ strategy” including the Frankenthal closure, meant the group was delivering “exactly what we announced” for further focus and increased efficiency.

Chief financial officer Alexander Blum said the order book of more than a billion Euros and the highest Q1 order intake for two years “cushion external market resistance and provide us with a high degree of planning certainty”.

Pictured: A 1986 Albert Frankenthal A200 newspaper press in Windgaen, Germany, and (below) the Frankenthal site