STRONG Q4 SEES PRESS GIANT HIT 2024 TARGET
German press manufacturing giant Koenig & Bauer hit its 2024 target, on the back of a strong fourth quarter. Orders from ANZ in the year were the strongest on record.
Its preliminary figures have revenue at €1.27m ($2.18bn), with an operating EBIT of €25.8m in 2024 achieved, the figure adjusted for its Spotlight programme and drupa spend of €10.5m.
The company reported a strong order intake, yielding the highest year-end order backlog in the company’s recent history, providing what it said is a “strong basis” for 2025 and beyond.
Its press sales for 2024 included four Rapida 106X machines to IVE, one to Blue Star, one to Opal, a B2 Rapida to United Print & Packaging, and three more B1 presses to undisclosed print businesses. The local business has a new look management team with former service director Graham Harris now managing director, and Rayne Simpson as sales director. It has also just appointed two more full-time technicians, and is about to receive a full-time demonstrator from Germany.
Overall revenue for Koenig & Bauer was down by €50m from the previous year, with Sheetfed sales down by €45m to €735m. However, its order backlog rose by 11 per cent to $1bn.
The operating EBIT of €46.5m was up on the previous year’s €32m, and a strong positive free cash flow was achieved in the fourth quarter.
After drupa, the Sheetfed segment did not see any decline in demand, posting an order intake of €220.8m in the final quarter, which was 45 per cent higher than the previous Q4, and which was also the strongest quarter of the year.
This resulted in a high Group order intake of €1.4m in 2024, some nine per cent higher than 2023, and increased the Group order backlog to €1bn, some 14 per cent higher than the previous year. This marks the highest year-end figure in Koenig & Bauer’s recent history.
CEO Dr Andreas Pleßke said, “The achievement of our targets testifies to our company’s performance and flexibility and highlights our operational resilience as well as the success of our Spotlight measures,” adding that “we used drupa to demonstrate our innovative strength and to intensify relations with our customers.”
Pleßke said that the packaging market would continue to be strong for the company. He said, “Spending restraint, geopolitical tensions and trade conflicts continue to pose challenges. The fact that we are operating in the less volatile packaging markets is paying off. Packaging of all kinds is always needed, especially in the food, pharmaceutical, beverage and consumer goods markets."
Looking forward, the company’s MetalPrint operation will focus on the growth field of digital printing in addition to maintaining its market-leading position in offset printing presses and coating lines for the metal printing market.
The company said the Digital & Webfed segment was not yet able to fully recover from the temporary weakness of the corrugated board market. Thanks to a strong final quarter, a further sequential improvement was achieved, with the order intake of €160.6m falling short of the previous year's figure by 10.7 per cent. Revenue fell by 8.4 per cent to €157.8m at the end of the year, reflecting the “exceptionally” high revenue recorded in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
For the year to come the management board anticipates a slight increase in revenue to €1.3bn, accompanied by higher operating EBIT in a corridor of between €35m and €50m. Within this corridor, target achievement is “highly dependent on actual global economic and geopolitical developments over the next few months”. It is looking to hit sales of €1.5bn in 2026.
