Heidelberger Printer Sales Tanking

THE KING KONG of print presses, the Heidelberger Druckmaschine, took a big sales hit as a result of the global economic crisis. Newspapers are certainly not bullish, causing the 2008-2009 financial year to be one of the most difficult in the company's history. Incoming orders fell to EUR 2.906 billion for the year as a whole, which is 20 percent lower than the previous year (EUR 3.649 billion). In the Heidelberger website, Bernhard Schreier, Heidelberg CEO, says the worsening economic situation created a restrictive lending policy for print shops, causing demand to fall sharply in the second half of the year in particular. About the only place where the demand did not flat line was in R.R. Donnelley Printing in my home town of Lancaster, where a three-storey tall Heidelberger was gently lowered into its printing facility.

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