KBA has told shareholders of a ‘perceptible upturn’ in its market sector, with demand for both sheetfed and web presses picking up strongly since March. Chief executive Helge Hansen says the order intake of €500m for the first five months of the current business year was almost 23 per cent up on the prior-year figure. Since January 1, the order backlog has increased by €160m to almost €500m. He says five-month sales of €332m fell well short of group targets, “but this is par for the course in the engineering sector”, and believes lost ground can be regained in the second half-year. KBA is aiming for a modest lift in sales from €1.05bn in 2009 to just over €1.1bn. By the end of May the group payroll had been trimmed to 6,465, and measures being implemented in the web press division will help reduce it to some 6,100 by the end of the year. Hansen believes a moderate increase in sales and pre-tax earnings targeted for 2010 can be achieved, and says KBA was unique among the world’s leading press manufacturers in posting a pre-tax profit of €2.7m for 2009. However, no dividend is being recommended for the year. On the subject of mergers and takeovers, he says that “while we are always open to constructive approaches for resolving the industry’s problems, our primary focus is on pursuing an independent course”. He says individual players can make “a signal contribution” by rigorously adjusting their resources, and claims KBA has done more in this respect than many others. The company has identified potential growth projects in print-related packaging technology and digital print, and was screening “potential acquisitions or alliances”.