Dobruška / Brno / On the 23rd of February, the KBA-Grafitec company held in Brno the traditional meeting with those customers involved over the past term in the majority of installations of the new Performa printing machines. The ceremonial meeting took place in the impressive premises of the Queen Elizabeth wine cellar (U královny Elišky). The invitation was accepted by almost one hundred attendees from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Those who accepted the invitations were also representatives of the printshops which became the owners of the KBA Performa 74 and 66 printing machines in the last year, business partners from Poland and Slovakia and also representatives of the leasing companies who help with the financing of the printing machines supplied to the market. The invitation was also accepted by representatives of the technical press from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Guests were welcomed by the KBA-Grafitec General Manager, Mr. Jens Junker.

Almost one hundred participants from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland took part in the event.

It will soon be almost a year since the Grafitec company became part of the KBA group and a new chapter in the printing machine production history of Dobruška was written. The General Manager, Mr Junker described the first year of the cooperation between the KBA and Grafitec teams as very successful.The opening stage of the incorporation of Grafitec into the organizational structure of the KBA group passed without problems. After the acquisition of Grafitec by the KBA company, the new brand of printing machines, the Performa in the SRA2 and SRB2 formats of the united design of the KBA printing machines has been quickly established on the market. In April 2005, Grafitec presented itself at the Poznan exhibition as a consolidated subsidiary of the KBA company. Since the beginning of 2005, Grafitec has directly entered the Polish market with their printing machines. Last year, the sale of machines from Dobruška to the Polish printshops became the most successful in company history.

Incorporation of Grafitec into the KBA group made a significant difference to the technical and investment areas in the last year. Regarding development of the printing machines and technology, there is close planning cooperation between the KBA companies in Radebeul and Dobruška. Investment in KBA-Grafitec primarily targets production technology, information systems and training of the employees. The Dobruška team also joined several colleagues from Radebeul who work in production, quality management and in controlling.

The Director for Sales and Service in KBA-Grafitec, Ing. Jan Korenc presented the guests at the customer meeting in Brno with the company 2005 results. Last year for Grafitec was one of their most successful in the traditional markets of Central Europe. The Central European markets represented more than half of company turnover. KBA-Grafitec supplied the Czech, Polish and Slovak printshops with 44 printing machines. After the Grafitec integration into the KBA group, other changes in the sales a service representation in the foreign markets were made. In 2005, the KBA-Grafitec company achieved their best economic results in recent years. The company increased, in comparison with 2004, their sales volume by 32% and the financial year resulted in a profit.

Right to left: Jens Junker – Chief Executive Officer of KBA-Grafitec, Andrzej Gumulka – sales representative for the Polish market, Jan Korenc – KBA-Grafitec's Vice President Sales & Service informed the participants of the meeting in Brno about the company's 2005 results.

Mr. Jozef Blaho from Grafitec Slovakia reviewed the sales results of the Performa printing machines on the Slovak market and thanked their business partners for their cooperation, at the end of the official part of the meeting with the customers. The ceremonial evening continued later in the Queen Elizabeth wine cellar in Brno with discussions between KBA-Grafitec representatives and the customers from the Czech, Polish and Slovak printshops.

Jozef Blaho of Grafitec Slovakia summed up last year's sales figures for Performa printing machines in the Slovak market.