History

Grafitec, a Czech manufacturer of small-format presses based in Dobruška, near Hradec Králové, becomes a KBA subsidiary at the beginning of March. The purpose of this strategic acquisition is to expand KBA’s share of the small-format sector, following dynamic growth in the global medium- and large-format markets. 

The biggest gravure contract in KBA’s history – for three presses with a working width of 4.32m (14ft 2in) and one for 2.75m (9ft) – is placed by Prinovis for its new gravure printing plant in Liverpool, England. 

At the end of September the Rapida 105 medium-format sheetfed press takes top honours in the print category of the German Printing Industry Innovation Awards. Following a Rapida 74 G in 2004 it is the second time a KBA press has featured among the prize-winners in the two years since the award was created by trade magazines Deutscher Drucker, Publishing Praxis and Grafische Palette. 

At €1.77bn the volume of new orders is the highest in KBA’s history. Pre-tax earnings rise from €16m the previous year to €25.8m, on group sales worth €1.62bn. 

A total of 200 patent applications places KBA first among German press manufacturers and 22nd in the national league table. 

Expansion into a new high-growth market – decorative printing – with the inauguration in April at German printer Decopress, Soest, of the first TR5D. 

The acquisition of Stuttgart-based LTG Print Systems Holding by KBA subsidiary Bauer+Kunzi in mid-year continues KBA’s successful strategy of acquisition in high-potential niche markets and moves it up to the pole position in the metal-decorating press sector. 

The acquisition of Stuttgart-based LTG Print Systems Holding by KBA subsidiary Bauer+Kunzi in mid-year continues KBA’s successful strategy of acquisition in high-potential niche markets and moves it up to the pole position in the metal-decorating press sector. 

In sheetfed offset, KBA sets a milestone with DriveTronic SPC dedicated cylinder drives for the Rapida 105. In mid-September, some 500 print professionals attend demonstrations in Radebeul of a new system that dramatically enhances productivity with the 105 by allowing simultaneous plate changing. 

Just one week later, under the banner "The future is Compact", KBA Würzburg invites members of the international newspaper industry to the inauguration of the first Commander CT, the product of an innovative alliance between KBA and the Main-Post media group. The second press to leave the production line is snapped up by another longstanding KBA customer, Spanish newspaper the Heraldo de Aragón in Saragossa. 

With dwindling circulations and catalogue pagination clouding prospects in the rotogravure sector, in September KBA sells off the entire business to Italian manufacturer Cerutti. 

The 14th Drupa opens in Düsseldorf on 29 May. KBA’s 3,400m² stand at this definitive print media event is a showcase for new advances in sheetfed and commercial web press technology, newspaper production, digital printshop networking, web to print and green printing. The fair closes on 11 June in an atmosphere of optimism as industry players report a raft of new orders. 

But the knock-on effects of the smouldering financial crisis, which flares up in mid-September, forces prospective buyers to postpone or cancel many of the contracts inked at Drupa. Following the sale of multi-unit Commander CT and Cortina newspaper press lines to the Daily News in New York and Gulf News in Dubai, autumn sees declining ad revenues and widespread uncertainty impacting on investment in web presses as well. The sheetfed sector, where production cycles are much shorter, is hit even harder. 

As a result group sales slide by around 10% to €1.53bn. A substantial charge for adjusting capacity to the smaller global market volume anticipated for the medium term contributes to a pre-tax loss of €87.1m.