Koenig & Bauer boosts profit and revenue despite “geopolitical crises”

In the 2025 financial year, Koenig & Bauer increased revenue and operating profitability and achieved its set targets for the year, despite what it described as “trade policy uncertainties, geopolitical crises, and an overall volatile market environment.”

Revenue at the European print press manufacturer grew as planned to around €1.3bn (£1.13bn) with operating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €36.6m (£31.90m), up from €15.3m (£13.3m) in the previous year.

Koenig & Bauer also reported successful segment performance, with a significant increase in profitability at its Paper & Packaging (P&P) division and operational turnaround at Special & New Technologies (S&T).

The company has also highlighted that it has seen a strong start to this year, with a more solid order backlog and a higher order intake in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous year.

Dr Stephen Kimmich, chief executive officer at Koenig & Bauer, highlights that current market volatility requires businesses to be even more adaptive and responsive in order to retain profitability. He says: “We are currently experiencing a global industrial and political turning point.

“The latest developments in the Middle East since the end of February are a clear reminder that volatility has long since become the ‘new normal’. Stability is no longer a static condition that can be relied on. Rather, high organisational responsiveness is essential.”

Speaking about the company’s 2025 results, Kimmich continues: “We are proving in this phase how stably Koenig & Bauer is positioned: we have addressed the situation with a solid order backlog of €970.6m (£845.9m) and the experience in flexibly adapting processes to the respective situation.”

Koenig & Bauer’s 2025 approach was characterised by strategic realignment, driven in part by its new strategic framework, dubbed ‘IMPACT’, which was adopted at the end of December.

Koenig & Bauer’s IMPACT framework, which will be implemented from 2026 to 2035, is designed to transform the company from a traditional machine manufacturer into a high-tech, AI-driven solutions provider focusing on growth in high-volume, mid-tech segments such as digital printing, automation, and sustainability.

Kimmich adds: “As the new strategic framework, IMPACT defines our common direction to actively shape the future of the printing industry and secure operational resilience for the next decade.”

Koenig & Bauer also recently acquired all activities related to System Brunner’s Instrument Flight measurement and control technology for sheetfed offset presses, fully integrating them into its own portfolio.

While the solution was previously available as an OEM product, further development and support are now entirely in the hands of Koenig & Bauer.

The company describes this arrangement as “an absolute unique selling point in sheetfed printing,” with Instrument Flight able to evaluate and control the overprinting of process colours using grey balance and other parameters.

By prioritising extensive measurement parameters alongside visual criteria, the system is designed to detect and correct optical deviations that many standard colour control systems on the market cannot.

According to Koenig & Bauer, many print service providers (PSPs) using the feature on their sheetfed offset presses have reported significantly shorter colour matching processes and consistent colour results throughout the entire print run.

Markus Weiss, chief executive officer of Koenig & Bauer Paper & Packaging Sheetfed Systems, says: “Today's market no longer forgives inefficiencies – our customers must reduce waste, minimise make-ready times, and simultaneously deliver the highest reproducible quality. “With the full integration of Instrument Flight technology, we are putting the most powerful tool on the market directly into their hands. We don't just deliver the machine – from now on, we provide maximum process reliability for perfect colour stability from a single source.”