The German press manufacturer says the centre of gravity for packaging printing is shifting to Asia, and that it is preparing for this.
Koenig & Bauer hit financial targets for 2025 despite the volatility in the market where the business operates. Sales came in at €1.30 billion (€1.27 billion) with a sharp increase in profitability as Ebit rose to €36.6 million (€15.3 million).
In his first letter to shareholders CEO Stephen Kimmich since taking on the role at last year’s AGM, called 2025 “a year that Koenig & Bauer demonstrated operational resilience.” The idea of resilience crops up throughout the report. “Trade restrictions and protectionist tendencies – particularly with a view to US customs policy, which will also accompany us in 2026 – demand a significantly higher resilience of the global organisation,” he notes.
The is coming through implementation of Impact, a follow up campaign to its Spotlight efficiency drive and its Exceeding Print strategy. Resilience underpins Impact with plans to tap into artificial intelligence and automation, managing its resources in a more flexible way and addressing growth markets.
One of these is Asia which by 2033 is expected to account more than 46% of market volume for packaging print. Companies in this market require what the company calls “mid-tech products”. These focus on economic efficiency and reliability rather than the most sophisticated machines which are in demand in Europe and the US.
Aside from the shift to Asia, the company identifies three other trends that are shaping the business: the importance of automation and artificial intelligence to counter the worldwide skills shortage, digital printing which is growing at 7% CAGR and will achieve a substantial share of the market by the mid 2030s, and the importance of resilience.
Digital print’s share is currently 18% by revenue globally and will reach 25% by value over the next decade despite having just 7% by volume. The report and accounts mentions momentum in inkjet, where Koenig & Bauer’s RotaJet as well as partnerships with HP fall in its Special and New Technology division. It secured a deal for book production at the end of the year.
This year started with an order for a Varijet 106, the sheetfed press for packaging jointly developed with Durst and is part of the paper and packaging sheetfed systems division. Orders for sheetfed presses have remained resilient after the Drupa boost. In the mid format (B1) this is driven by modernisation and replacement investments while there is restraining in VLF markets where orders are about increasing capacity.
There are further signs of recovery in the corrugated market, but continuing restraint in web offset and the US market for inkjet. This has given Koenig & Bauer an order backlog of €970.6 million at the start of the year. It means a continuation of operational stability for 2026, marked by an order intake for Q1 that was above the level achieved last year.
Kimmich points to disappointment in the company’s share price. This fell 29.4% from the start of 2025 to the end of the year and “reflects neither the technological substance nor the earnings potential of the company.”
First published by Print Business magazine (www.printbusiness.co.uk). Reproduced by permission of the author.
