After the sale of its offset division, Agfa has released an improved first quarter results.
The company posted sales on continuing operations up 7% at €270m, 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. Agfa still supplies film, chemicals and support services to ECO3, and has set up a new division, Contractor Operations & Services, or CONOPS.
