Koenig & Bauer AG achieved profitable growth in 2022, exceeding its own EBIT forecast as well as market expectations in a challenging environment. Growth of 6.3% in revenue to €1,185.7m was underpinned by all three manufacturing segments; EBIT of €22.0m surpassed the company’s own forecast and market expectations – Digital & Webfed both showed substantially improved earnings.
“Our performance last year shows that we are headed in the right direction for sustainable growth. We were able to post increases in all key performance indicators,” says Dr Andreas Pleßke, Chief Executive Officer, Koenig & Bauer. “That is why we have deliberately chosen the motto ‘Metamor[e]phosis’ for our annual report. It reflects the fact that it is both the Company’s maxim and part of its DNA over a history spanning more than 200 years to constantly evolve, highlights the importance that we have always attached to adaptability and shows how our ‘Exceeding Print’ strategy and our P24x efficiency programme are enabling us to master the necessary transformation.”
Group revenue increased by 6.3% to €1,185.7m in 2022, reaching the upper end of the range of €1,160 – 1,190m that had been specified in November. As in the previous year, almost 30% of revenue was generated by service business. All three segments contributed to this increase, with Digital & Webfed even posting double-digit growth. In the fourth quarter of 2022 in particular, Koenig & Bauer achieved a significant increase over the same period in the previous year, with revenue coming to €380.0m (previous year: €328.4m) and EBIT to €25.0m (previous year: €11.8m).
At the end of 2022, the Koenig & Bauer Group’s order intake stood at €1,329.3m, up 3.0% on the previous year’s figure. The book-to-bill ratio of 0.8 in the fourth quarter was also in line with the company’s own forecast. The order backlog reached €950.4m, substantially exceeding the previous year’s figure.
