According to the group, the sheetfed unit returned to profit for the first time in three years, notching up an operating profit of 4.1m, compared to a loss of 28m in 2004.

Order intake in the group's printing systems division as a whole for 2005 was up 12% for the year to 1.4bn (2.1bn). In Q4 it fell 17% to 304m year on year.

Sales rose 7% to 1.2bn, but were static year on year in Q4.

"We anticipate an overall slightly increasing dynamic of demand in the 2006 financial year, with the web-fed area having reached a very high order backlog," said the firm.

Operating profit for printing systems as a whole rose to 44m in 2005, from 2m in 2004. The figure more than doubled year on year to 38m in Q4 2005.