German manufacturer Koenig & Bauer has published its preliminary financial results for 2024, marked by a strong fourth quarter "historically strong" . Annual sales were in line with forecasts at ?1,274.4 million, with adjusted operating EBIT of ?25.8 million. The order book is at an all-time high, reinforcing the outlook for 2025.
A buoyant final quarter and a growing full-year order book
The fourth quarter of 2024 saw operating EBIT of ?46.5 million, compared with ?32.0 million the previous year, and positive free cash flow.
Order intake amounted to 1,402.7 million euros over 2024 (+8.9%), taking the order book to 1,039.8 million euros (+14.1%).
According to Andreas Pleßke, Group CEO, these results "underline our operational resilience and the success of our Spotlight measures" (aimed in particular at improving the benefits and efficiency of the Digital & Webfed and Specia l).
He adds: "We used drupa to demonstrate our innovative strength and intensify our relationships with our customers. However, spending restraint, geopolitical tensions and trade conflicts continue to pose challenges. The fact that we operate in less volatile packaging markets is paying off. Packaging of all kinds is still needed, especially in the food, pharmaceutical, beverage and consumer goods markets."
Impact of the Spotlight program and the Drupa trade show
Exceptional costs relating to the Spotlight program (?50.4 million) and participation in the Drupa 2024 trade fair (?10.5 million) weighed on the Group's EBIT, which came to -?35.1 million. These expenses include optimization measures in the banknote and digital sectors.
In addition, Koenig & Bauer MetalPrint is abandoning the CS-MetalCan project for two-part can printing, a program launched in 2012 that failed to achieve its objectives. MetalPrint will refocus on digital printing and the metal printing market.
Performance varies by segment
In the Sheetfed segment (dedicated to sheet-fed offset printing), order intake rose (+20.8%) to 732.5 million euros, with a particularly dynamic final quarter (+45.5%) that did not see a downturn in demand after Drupa as might have been expected. However, annual Sheetfed sales were down (-5.8%) at 734.8 million euros, due to the delayed effect of relatively moderate order intake in the third quarter of 2023.
The Digital & Webfed segment (digital printing and continuous offset) continues to suffer from the weakness of the corrugated board market, with orders down (-10.7%) to 160.6 million euros and sales down (-8.4%) to 157.8 million euros.
The Special segment (glass, metal, marking technology and banknote printing) maintained orders at 541.9 million euros (+0.6%), despite disparities between its sub-segments. Sales fell (-2.0%) to 405.6 million euros.
Outlook for 2025 and 2026
Koenig & Bauer anticipates a slight increase in sales in 2025 to around ?1.3 billion, with operating EBIT expected to be between ?35 and ?50 million.
For 2026, the German manufacturer is still targeting sales of 1.5 billion euros and an EBIT margin of 6%, subject to global economic and geopolitical developments.
