Manroland Sheetfed has been placed in administration by owner Langley Holdings in order to implement a restructuring of the press manufacturing business.
Langley’s chairman and CEO Tony Langley warned in the company’s annual report of increasing losses and that “the situation is unsustainable and [the board] is currently considering its options”. The figures show underline the position that Manroland Sheetfed finds itself in. While Langley does not list the operating returns for its businesses, it does show a revenue figure for the Print Technology division which includes DruckChemie as well as the press manufacturer. But the forecast made in the previous year shows how the company has been under performing.
Sales in 2020 for Manroland Sheetfed were €214.7 million with DruckChemie adding a further €59.4 million. The results from the two have since been combined to produce sales of €300 million for 2021 and an expectation that sales would hit €400 million in 2022. Sales fell short of this at €361 million, but optimism remained high with a forecast for 2023 of €407 million. In the event sales fell short again at €331 million and the forecast was trimmed to €366 million. But in 2024 revenue for the division was more than 10% below this at €313 million with hopes for 2025 were that revenue could come in at €356 million. Revenue for last year though was just €271 million, below the revenue in 2020, the Covid year.
The order book has also fallen relentlessly from a peak of €112 million in 2021 to €85.4 million, then €67.4 million and €37 million in hand for 2024. Looking forward to this year, the forecast revenue is €342 million with €32 million of orders in hand, barely 10-12 presses depending on format and configuration.
The choice has been to put the business into what is known as protective administration in Germany, allowing a business to restructure under protection from creditors. This is not uncommon and has affected companies like Renz, Polar and now parts of Baumann in recent times.
Experts from insolvency and restricting specialists SGP Schneider Geiwitz and legal firm BUSE, both with offices in Frankfurt near the Manroland Sheetfed factory in Offenbach, are guiding the process.
Arndt Gewitz, partner at SGP, says: “I see Manroland Sheetfed has a viable core business. However, we will have to implement drastic and far reaching measures. Then the restructuring has a chance of success. This is also confirmed by an independent expert opinion.”
There is no timetable for the process, which may end in a sale of the business or in the worst case in closure. This seems unlikely at this time. Manroland Sheetfed CEO Mirko Kern explains: “It is regrettable that a great many jobs will be lost but I call upon the workers council and the unions to co-operate with what we and restructuring experts have concluded are the necessary measures to arrive at a viable business and preserve the remaining positions.”
The business was acquired from a previous insolvency in 2012 by the Langley Holdings group. At the time it was the largest part of the engineering conglomerate, but subsequent acquisitions and now poor trading have reduced its role in the group. Losses from the Print Technology division in 2025 came in at €43.2 million, denting the pretax profit for the group of €152.3 million. Current headcount in the factory is put at 750 according to local reports.
The company has blamed market conditions, especially in China which alone has accounted for 40% of sales in recent years, where Manroland Sheetfed had deliberately targeted sales along with other developing countries. A shift of emphasis towards Europe, stressing the value for money aspect of the press, came too late to steer the business off the rocks.
The company says there is no sign that markets will improve in the foreseeable future leading to the decision to restructure into a much smaller business in find a way to profitability.
The key to that may lie in the installed base which will need parts and servicing. Langley has promised that support will continue. In the financial report he said: “We are conscious, however, that a great many printing businesses, the vast majority of them privately owned SMEs, rely on Manroland presses and it is our goal that whatever solution we ultimately decide upon, the installed base will continue to be supported.”
One issue to be considered is the fate of the OEM deal with Heidelberg. Under the arrangement signed last year, Manroland Sheetfed will supply Heidelberg with the Roland 900 VLF press for Heidelberg to badge as the Cartonmaster CX145. In recent weeks, Heidelberg has announced that a platesetter for this format has been developed and that a platen capable of taking sheets of this format is on its way. Heidelberg has confirmed that the partnership continues and that a first Cartonmaster CX145 is due for installation at its Home of Print in April.
