Koenig & Bauer closed the second quarter of 2025 with strong preliminary figures. At the same time, it is consistently pursuing its strategy of focusing on reinforcing its profitability. In this context, it will be reviewing the future alignment of Koenig & Bauer Coding GmbH to additionally concentrate on its core business in printing press engineering and related services.
In the second quarter revenue rose by 7.0% to €298.2m on the basis of the preliminary figures. Preliminary order intake was valued at €361.7m (previous year: €398.6m). This is a solid performance given the muted demand in the wake of the uncertainties surrounding US tariffs and the high volume of orders around drupa in the strong same quarter of the previous year. Even so, based on the preliminary figures, the order backlog increased to €1,096.3m (up 7.4%), marking the highest figure in the company’s recent history.
Preliminary EBIT rose by €24.1m over the same quarter of the previous year to €0.4m, while preliminary operating EBIT climbed by €22.7m to €1.8m. This strong performance is in line with the full-year forecast for 2025: the Group anticipates a slight increase in revenue to €1.3bn, accompanied by higher operating EBIT in a corridor of €35-50m. Target achievement within this corridor is highly dependent on actual global economic and geopolitical developments over the next few months.
Dr Stephen Kimmich, CEO, Koenig & Bauer AG, says, “Despite a persistently challenging market environment, the preliminary strong Q2 figures confirm the effectiveness of our ‘Spotlight’ measures for strengthening our profitability on a sustained basis and for positioning the Group to optimum effect for the future. Reviewing all options for coding business to harness the potential of this entity as effectively as possible is a logical and necessary step in enhancing our Group focus as this company has limited synergistic overlap with our core business.”
