Koenig & Bauer is showing the benefits a greater focus and the Spotlight efficiency programme, its focus on key product areas and growing demand for its products with first half figures that show a 70% improvement in operating Ebit.
Sales increased 3.5% to €550.4 million (€532.0 million) while new orders fell 5.4% to €606.9 million (€641.5 million). This is in comparison to the same period last year, a period that covered Drupa. Tariff related uncertainty dampened demand from the US. The first half of last year also included orders from the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing for currency presses. This year’s figures included participation in China Print which exceeded expectations the company says.
Sales to North America had accounted for 28.1% of sales in the first six months of 2024. This fell to 20.5% of sales in the first six months of 2025.
The company has cut the executive team two, the chief financial officer and CEO with managing directors of the print and packaging sheetfed systems and the special and new technologies reporting in.
Revenue in the print and packaging sheetfed business rose 6.3% to €308.9 million, with the special and new technologies coming in at €256.6 million.
The order backlog has reached €1,096.3 million, a record for the company, though not evenly divided between the divisions. It sets the business up to reach €1.3 billion for the full year and to reach €1.5 billion as its longer term goal.
The company says the strategic review of the coding business is part of the strategic direction. It sits at arm’s length to the rest of the business: coding serves down stream markets, adding batch and date information to bottles or delivery and date information to corrugated boxes. It is a growing market says the company. Options for the business include a joint venture, partnership or sale.
“The figures from the first half of the year are clear proof that we are headed in the right direction,” says CEO Stephen Kimmich, in his first comment as CEO. “With specific initiatives such as AI Empower 25 and the pioneering spirit being imbued through forward looking technologies such as battery coating, we are demonstrating that we are not merely managing but also actively shaping the transformation process.”
