Kodak sales shrink

Kodak has reduced its losses on worldwide sales that fell 15% in 2015 to slip below the $2bn mark.

The consumables and imaging group posted turnover that slipped from $2.1bn (£1.5bn) to $1.8bn in the year to 31 December 2015.

The net loss was reduced from $118m to $75m. Among other measures, Kodak cuts its operating expenses by almost a quarter to $330m.

The company, which announced that it plans to sell its Prosper inkjet business at the same time as its results, is now predicting sales of between $1.5bn-$1.7bn in 2016, with increased operating EBITDA of $130m-$150m (2015: $120m).

Sales at its biggest operation, Print Systems, fell by 12% to $1.106bn, while operating EBITDA increased by 5% to $98m.

Kodak cited “competitive pricing pressures” alongside market volatility in Brazil, China and Japan as affecting performance of the division.

It said NexPress press placements were up 16% with 78 presses installed last year, while Sonora plate volumes grew sharply.  

Currency fluctuations also impacted the results across the group.

Sales at Enterprise Inkjet Systems, which includes the up-for-sale Prosper business, fell 6.4% to $173m, but would have been up 2% but for currency variances.

The division cut its operating losses by $18m but still lost more than $2m a month, or $26m, during the year.

Kodak said the growing Prosper business was “more than offsetting” the decline in its old Versamark business.

A strong performance from its Flexcel NX system boosted performance in the Micro 3D and Packaging division, where sales slipped 1.5% to $128m. Flexel NX sales were up 12%, the installed base grew by 20% and there are now more than 470 Flexcel NX installations worldwide.

Losses in Micro 3D printing were “reduced”. The division posted a small operating profit of $9m compared to last year’s $1m loss.

The Software & Solutions division, which includes Kodak’s Unified Workflow systems, posted sales up 3.7% to $112m, with efficiencies resulting in a $6m improvement in operational EBITDA to $9m.