Although the kit manufacturer posted a 5.5% upturn in new orders, its profit dropped by €18.5m (£14.7m) from last year and its order backlog was down €20.5m.

Elsewhere, group sales fell short of 2007 figures at €301.7m, against €414.2m in the previous year. Sheetfed sales of €144m were 8% lower than in 2007 (€156.6m).

Sales of web and special presses slid by more than a third, from €257.6m to €157.7m. KBA added that most web presses will not ship until the second half of the year.

However, its web and special press division bucked the industry trend with major contracts from US and Turkish newspaper publishers. This helped boost the order intake by an above-average 10.6%, from €180.2m to €199.3m.

KBA president and chief executive Albrecht Bolza-Schunemann said: "This report exemplifies the fluctuations that can occur in capital investment goods such as printing presses, with their relatively long production cycles.

"Prognoses based on a simple extrapolation of the results would rapidly lead to the wrong conclusions and investor discontent."

Christian Knapp, managing director of KBA UK, added: "The figures overall are disappointing. But compared to other kit manufacturers we feel we've fared well.

"The strong euro and the pre-Drupa slump have certainly hit us, but we are optimistic about Drupa and expect a sales boost from the show."

However, Knapp added sales at this year's Drupa are not likely to be as buoyant as the last event because of the current economic climate.