The press manufacturer experienced a 13% rise in the value of incoming orders to €520m while sales during the half-year period were up 7% to €435m.

Orders within Manroland's sheetfed sector were up 2% while its web division fared more strongly, with orders up 33%.

In the UK, Manroland GB managing director Norman Revill said sheetfed sales had done "exceptionally well", with 31 units sold so far and a further 15-20 expected to be sold by the end of the year.

However, he added that web sales remained "very quiet" with none so far this year, while the manufacturer's consumables business has suffered as a result of the inevitable price rises caused by soaring input costs.

"This year has been very slow in the consumables business, which is down around 25%," said Revill. "We were half-expecting a downturn [because of the price rises] but we didn't expect it to be as much as that."

He added that revenue from service and parts was "on target" and that overall Manroland GB was "doing better that the last three to four years". "We got through the recession quite well and now are customers are beginning to reinvest we're moving in the right direction."

At group level, the company cited growth in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries as catalysts for its improved results, with demand especially strong in China.

As a result, Manroland's operating result came in at a €25m loss, which was almost half the €46m loss incurred in the previous year.

However, as part of its ongoing cost-reduction programme, the company said that staff numbers would drop to below 6,000 by the end of next year. It currently employs 6,630 worldwide.

According to Gerd Finkbeiner, chief executive at Manroland, the gain in orders and increased sales resulted in a pleasing period for the press manufacturer.

He added: "The strategic alliance with Océ in the digital printing sector will further strengthen Manroland’s leading position in the future.

"With technical innovations like product safety in packaging printing, automation features with robot technology for newspaper presses, and new developments in high-volume commercial web-offset printing, we are showing that print has a bright future."

Despite a positive first half of 2011, the manufacturer said that it did not expect sales to return to its previous strong showing in 2007.

"We are assuming 75% of the pre-crisis volume in the sheetfed sector and around 60% in the webfed sector. Measured against the boom year, our sheetfed results at present are at approximately 60%, and web almost 50%," added Finkbeiner.