KODAK INSTALLS FIRST NEW PROSPERS

Kodak has placed its first two new machines, a Kodak Prosper Ultra 520 Press and a Prosper 7000 Turbo Press, and expects them both to be in production this quarter.

The company is not releasing details on the location of the new print systems, only saying they had gone in "as part of the controlled introduction of our new inkjet presses".

Prosper Ultra 520 is a web-fed CMYK perfecting inkjet press, intended to deliver "offset quality" print on a wide variety of standard papers, including high coverage on glossy coatings, while maintaining a constant speed of 152 metres a minute.The Prosper 7000 Turbo Press is also an inkjet web press, that uses Kodak Stream Inkjet Technology, and will print at speeds up to 410 metres a minute, which the company says means 5,500 A4 pages a minute.

The news on the progress of the new presses came as Kodak’s second quarter figures were released, which showed a slowdown in sales revenue, but an uptick in profits.

Consolidated revenues were $295m, compared with $321m for the same period last year, a decrease of $26m or 8 per cent.
Its GAAP net income of $35m was almost double last year’s $20m, an increase of $15 million, while its operational EBITDA did double, to $22m.

Its quarter-end cash balance of $223m, was an increase of $6 million in six months, and compared with a decrease of $73m in the prior-year period, representing an improvement in cash of $79m.

"Kodak delivered strong results in the second quarter, once again increasing our gross profit and operational EBITDA year over year despite challenging business conditions affecting the markets we serve," said Jim Continenza, Kodak's executive chairman and CEO. "A number of factors have contributed to our success: a strong leadership team, dedicated employees and a clearly defined long-term plan focused on driving innovation, productivity and smart revenue in our core businesses of print and advanced materials and chemicals.

"We are proud to be an industrial manufacturer and we are concentrating on what we do best."