In Q1 the Belgium-headquartered manufacturer posted sales on continuing operations up 7% at €270m (£235m), while adjusted EBITDA jumped by nearly 78% to €13m. 

However, the net loss was €66m, mainly due to €47m in impairments involved with the sale of what had been Agfa’s biggest division. 

The group’s Digital Print & Chemicals wing was the star performer in Q1, and posted a significant turnaround in performance. 

Sales rose 22% to €97m, and it reported a big jump in adjusted EBITDA, which rose from €4.1m to €6.6m.

The division benefited from last year’s €48m acquisition of Inca Digital Printers, and also from “price increases, strong demand for inks, and Zirfon membranes for green hydrogen”.

Q1 also included sales of the first three Agfa-branded Onset wide-format printing systems using Agfa inks. Agfa said the Inca business had made a “positive contribution” to the quarter. 

It held off selling the devices until it could ship the products with its own-brand inks. 

Agfa still supplies film, chemicals and support services to ECO3, and has set up a new division, Contractor Operations & Services, or CONOPS.

Q1 and comparatives have been reported as if the division already existed. Sales were down 20.9% at €14m, with adjusted EBITDA of €1.3m compared with a €3.4m loss the prior year. 

So-called “stranded costs” that were included in the prior year loss are now being absorbed by Agfa’s three other divisions from Q1 2023. 

Sales at Radiology Solutions were up 1.6% at €102m, with adjusted EBITDA down 7.4% at €6.5m. 

At the HealthCare IT division, sales rose 4.8% to €57m while adjusted EBITDA slumped by 38.2% to €2.7m due to ongoing cost inflation and unfavourable product mix. 

Regarding the outlook for this year, Agfa said that overall it expects to achieve a recovery in profitability in full year 2023 versus 2022.

Agfa will exhibit at the upcoming Fespa Global Print Expo in Munich later this month.