Ricoh’s commercial print business has bounced back from Covid with a 25% growth in sales in the first six months of its 2022/23 financial year. This was helped by a swing in exchange rates, allowing for these results in a 10.7% increase in sales.
The impact on operating profit for the division was more marked. The company reports an operating profit of Y3.8 billion for the first half year, a ¥3.5 billion improvement compared to this point last year.
This improvement came despite the company having to find alternative sources of components due to ongoing supply issues. This was necessary to meet demands from orders placed, but the higher costs squeezed profits.
There has also been an increase in non hardware sales, ie software and consumables, which rose above the pre Covid levels in 2019.
The company has enjoyed strong demand for print heads and for textile printers, which are considered industrial printing within the commercial print division. The division produced sales of ¥108.9 billion compared to ¥87.0 billion. Within that commercial printing generated revenues of ¥92.7 billion, a step up from ¥73.6 billion, and industrial print brought in ¥16.1 billion up from ¥13.4 billion.
Strategically Ricoh will continue to cultivate commercial printing companies in Europe and the US, by converting these printers to digital printing companies.
There is nothing in the results to pick up the up coming B2 inkjet press. Initial installations will take place early next year before commercial sales later in the year. The company spoke more about the Z75 during the printing United exhibition in Las Vegas last month and produced samples if not the press itself.
Overall sales for Ricoh in the first six months rose 15.4% to ¥973.5 billion (¥8433.4 billion) with a 54% increase in pretax profit to ¥24.6 billion. (¥15.9 billion). Performance was held back by the impact of the lengthy lockdown of Shanghai.
