A one-off charge of 13m (e18.3m) related to Practical Print Solutions (PPS) and Oc Display Graphics led to a loss of 4m.

The company said that PPS, which it acquired in November 2001, had not generated the expected income or growth.

Overall revenues fell 12% to 463m. Exchange rate fluctuations accounted for 6.7% of the decline although the firm said it saw signs that the decline was slowing.

Both its business units, Digital Document Systems (DDS) and Wide Format Printing Systems (WFPS), reported falling revenues.

For the first nine months of the year sales in DDS fell 13.6% to 942m, while in WFPS they dropped 16.4% to 446m.

Non-recurring revenues (equipment and software sales) fell by 16.3% and 12.6% respectively in the divisions, suggesting a slowdown in new equipment installations.

The company expects the fourth quarter to be affected by the strong euro and firms continuing to delay investment.

Story by Barney Cox