Despite what it calls a “growth trajectory”, Koenig & Bauer says press and systems deliveries towards the end of this year present “a major challenge” and may need reassessment if global supply chains continue to deteriorate.

In comments on the group’s third quarter results, chief financial officer Stephen Kimmich says that, “despite all the external uncertainties”, the company is well positioned and should be able to report “satisfactory customer demand and capacity utilisation” in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“This forecast assumes that there are no further setbacks or tightened restrictions compared with the current situation as a result of the war in Ukraine, the availability of energy supplies, the disruptions to global supply chains and the efforts to contain the pandemic.

“The planned delivery of our presses and systems for the fourth quarter of 2022 poses a major challenge for Koenig & Bauer and must be reassessed if the global supply chain situation continues to deteriorate,” the company says.

A strong third quarter and robust demand puts it on track for profitable growth, the revenue increase – underpinned by the group’s sheetfed and digital & webfed segments – with EBIT at around 11 million Euros.

“Solid customer demand” boosted the order intake cumulatively by around five per cent “over the previous year’s high level”. Koenig & Bauer is also opening up new business areas with digital and sustainable solutions.

Chief executive Andreas Pleßke presented a company caught between high order backlogs on the one hand and many adverse factors mainly on the supply side on the other. “Our flexibility and creativity – including in conjunction with our suppliers – are having an impact, as we have learned to deal more effectively with the exceptional situation over the past few months,” he said.

Group revenue rose by 6.7 per cent year-on-year to €313.9 million between July and September 2022. Sequentially, growth was even stronger, with revenue climbing by 31.7 per cent compared to Q1 and by 23.9 per cent compared to Q2.

Sheetfed and Digital & Webfed segments “in particular” contributed to this performance, and at €805.7 million, cumulative group revenue exceeded the previous year’s figure by 2.3 per cent. The share of revenue attributable to service business increased to 32.2 per cent, from last year’s 29.9 per cent.

After income taxes, the group posted a net loss of €11.0 million as of September 30, 2022, compared to last year’s €5.5 million net profit, but expects an operating EBIT of between €15 million and €20 million and an operating EBIT margin of between 1.3-1.7 per cent on group revenue of between €1,160-1,190 million.

A new cross-group digital unit, headed by digitalisation vice president Sandra Wagner, now coordinates and supports the development, implementation and market launch of digital products and services.

“We are focussing on our customers, supporting them with digital solutions wherever they can become even more profitable,” she says.

A cloud-based energy management solution has been launched in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with global roll-out in early 2023.

Financial statements can be downloaded as a PDF file here.