KBA Posts Pre-tax Profit in Third Quarter as Incoming Orders Spike

Positive outlook for 2010 – dividend on the cards
In the third-quarter report KBA president Helge Hansen reaffirmed the goals for 2010 stated in the spring: “I am confident that the scheduled rise in fourth-quarter sales will enable us to boost the year-end total by around 7 percent to achieve our goal of €1.1bn-plus. On current readings, our pre-tax profit will also be appreciably higher than in 2009 (€2.7m). If this is confirmed at the end of December, we shall consider paying a dividend again after a two-year hiatus.”

KBA is still pursuing its goal of engaging in a new, high-potential field of operation alongside its core business of press technology. Says Hansen: “Unfortunately this is taking far longer than I originally expected and predicted. Not every project that at first glance appeared promising and relatively quick to implement could withstand closer scrutiny.”

In view of the current economic and political uncertainties, management will not be venturing any projections for 2011 until March next year, when KBA’s financial statements for 2010 are published.

Source: Financial release.