Thomas joined the company as sales manager for the Southeast last month. Bringing 30 years of experience with him, his most recent role was as national sales and trade development manager for WRH Marketing UK. He was formerly sheetfed sales manager for Manroland’s Midlands team and trained at the London College of Printing. Thomas said: “When I saw the extent of the customer support infrastructure that’s been put in place here in the UK, I knew that I could be part of a major change in the printing industry in this country. “I was staggered by the performance of the latest presses on demonstration; the more I learn about the technologies and the performance, the more enthused I become.” His new role bolsters other additions to KBA UK’s sheetfed sales team this year: Tony Bennett joined the company as area sales manager for the Midlands, Northwest and Wales and Chris Scully succeeded Mark Nixon as sales director at the turn of the year following Nixon’s departure shortly before Drupa. Scully said: “We know from our conversations with many of the country’s leading printers this year that KBA’s technologies shown at Drupa are just too good to be discounted; the impact they make on production performance and the bottom line could be a crucial factor in any operation’s competiveness. “And because every KBA press is built to the exact specifications of the user, it is essential that we have knowledgeable sales managers with a full appreciation of all the variables involved in the production process and the print marketplace in general. James has those qualities and we are delighted to welcome him to the team.” This week KBA announced a 1.6% year-on-year increase in group sheetfed sales although orders were down almost 20%....

The print company, based in Lavenham, Suffolk will take delivery of the Heidelberg combination machine tomorrow (14 August) when it will replace two MBO folders. One of those will be kept in storage and the other sold on, while a third B2 Horizon AFC564A machine will continue on general folding jobs. The B1 KH82 is Lavenham Press’ first combination machine and will be dedicated to signature folding. Lavenham Press managing director Terence Dalton said that the decision to switch from buckle to combination technology was not a conscious decision, rather it was the two-level stacker that attracted him to the automated 10,000sph Stahlfolder. “The operator can spend more time at the feeder end knowing that the stacker will look after itself,” Dalton said. Currently, the 50-strong company has four employees who work in the folding area, but the automated machine will allow this to be cut down to three people working over three shifts. Dalton did not want to make any job cuts, so the fourth worker will be redeployed to mind a Muller stitching line following the retirement of Lavenham Press’ main stitcher operator in March. Dalton said: “There was a specific reason for us making the investment now. Rather than replace our former stitcher operator, we thought it was more cost effective to strengthen the folding area with modern technology. This will allow us to release one person, who will effectively replace our retired operator.” He added that the Stahlfolder KH82 was a “sizeable investment” for the £4m turnover company....

In its interim financial report for the three months to 30 June, the German press manufacturer reported group sales of €504m, 3% down on the €520m achieved during the same period last year, but never-the-less in line with expectations. A Q1 operating loss of €2m, excluding special items (EBITDA), showed a €45m improvement on the €47m loss recorded at the same point last year. The company cited cost savings and higher profit contributions on new equipment, for the improvement, as well as the impact of trade show expenditure on last year’s results. Heidelberg chief executive Gerold Linzbach said: “The substantial increase in our operating result makes us confident that we will record a profit for the year as a whole. “In order to achieve this, we are systematically pressing ahead with our strategic reorganisation so as to further improve our margins for new machine sales in the future and adapt our cost structures to the market situation on an ongoing basis,” he added. Meanwhile, incoming orders for Q1 totalled €643m (2012: €890m) with last year’s figures bloated by Drupa. According to the interim report, a reluctance to invest in the EMEA region and South America, particularly Brazil, offset the positive impact of China Print in May. Free cash flow at the end of June was “at break-even” compared to a negative figure of €-112m at the same point last year. Meanwhile, net debt remained stable at €258m, despite further restructuring payments of around €31m for Focus 2012. The business continued to reduce its workforce across the quarter, cutting 546 positions to 13,669. The group contracted by a total of 1,200 in 2012/13 and is aiming for a headcount of fewer than 13,500 by mid-2014. The company said that the results were in line with expectations and outlook for the year remained unchanged with the intention of achieving a net profit in 2013/14 for the first time since 2008/2009....

The print company, based in Lavenham, Suffolk will take delivery of the Heidelberg combination machine tomorrow (14 August) when it will replace two MBO folders. One of those will be kept in storage and the other sold on, while a third B2 Horizon AFC564A machine will continue on general folding jobs. The B1 KH82 is Lavenham Press’ first combination machine and will be dedicated to signature folding. Lavenham Press managing director Terence Dalton said that the decision to switch from buckle to combination technology was not a conscious decision, rather it was the two-level stacker that attracted him to the automated 10,000sph Stahlfolder. “The operator can spend more time at the feeder end knowing that the stacker will look after itself,” Dalton said. Currently, the 50-strong company has four employees who work in the folding area, but the automated machine will allow this to be cut down to three people working over three shifts. Dalton did not want to make any job cuts, so the fourth worker will be redeployed to mind a Muller stitching line following the retirement of Lavenham Press’ main stitcher operator in March. Dalton said: “There was a specific reason for us making the investment now. Rather than replace our former stitcher operator, we thought it was more cost effective to strengthen the folding area with modern technology. This will allow us to release one person, who will effectively replace our retired operator.” He added that the Stahlfolder KH82 was a “sizeable investment” for the £4m turnover company....

In its interim financial report for the three months to 30 June, the German press manufacturer reported group sales of €504m, 3% down on the €520m achieved during the same period last year, but never-the-less in line with expectations. A Q1 operating loss of €2m, excluding special items (EBITDA), showed a €45m improvement on the €47m loss recorded at the same point last year. The company cited cost savings and higher profit contributions on new equipment, for the improvement, as well as the impact of trade show expenditure on last year’s results. Heidelberg chief executive Gerold Linzbach said: “The substantial increase in our operating result makes us confident that we will record a profit for the year as a whole. “In order to achieve this, we are systematically pressing ahead with our strategic reorganisation so as to further improve our margins for new machine sales in the future and adapt our cost structures to the market situation on an ongoing basis,” he added. Meanwhile, incoming orders for Q1 totalled €643m (2012: €890m) with last year’s figures bloated by Drupa. According to the interim report, a reluctance to invest in the EMEA region and South America, particularly Brazil, offset the positive impact of China Print in May. Free cash flow at the end of June was “at break-even” compared to a negative figure of €-112m at the same point last year. Meanwhile, net debt remained stable at €258m, despite further restructuring payments of around €31m for Focus 2012. The business continued to reduce its workforce across the quarter, cutting 546 positions to 13,669. The group contracted by a total of 1,200 in 2012/13 and is aiming for a headcount of fewer than 13,500 by mid-2014. The company said that the results were in line with expectations and outlook for the year remained unchanged with the intention of achieving a net profit in 2013/14 for the first time since 2008/2009....