The continuing reluctance to invest in the printing industry, due to reasons that are well known, has led to a dramatic drop in revenues for the manufacturer of sheet-fed and web offset presses. According to KBA, the market for web presses has contracted by about 70%, with no prospect of sustainable recovery.

The company plans the following measures:

• Creation of autonomous divisions for sheet-fed presses, web presses, special applications and manufacturing,
• Personnel adjustments and introduction of a business model based on labour flexibility for the web press division,
• Capacity and personnel adjustments in the sheet-fed press division,
• Personnel adjustments at the five European locations of Würzburg, Radebeul, Frankenthal, Mödling (Austria) and Dobruška (Czech Republic), with the closure of individual locations not ruled out, and
• Lowering general administrative costs at company headquarters in Würzburg.

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, KBA Chairman of the Board, spoke of far-reaching decisions for KBA involving painful cuts for the workforce but that are essential for the future sustainability of the company. "We should see the first fruits of these changes in 2015 and a return to sustainable profitability in 2016 at the latest", said Bolza-Schünemann.

For further details, see the KBA press release