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Australia’s biggest printer PMP stepped into the centre of the global print stage yesterday, with its announcement at drupa that is buying six new heatset web presses from MAN Roland, a move that is by far the biggest press investment in Australian print history, and is also certainly one of the biggest commercial press orders ever signed anywhere. In a move trailed a fortnight ago by PMP chief executive David Kirk in his communication to the ASX about the company’s $124m investment strategy, the company signed on the dotted line in Hall 6 at drupa for two 64pp MAN Lithomans and four 32pp MAN Lithomans. Exact specifications are yet to be decided, but even at 50,000cph the new presses would add around 13 million A4 pages an hour to Australian print capacity.Investment price is not revealed, but it will take up the bulk of the $124m set aside. PMP will install the presses on a phased basis beginning in 12 months time, details of locations have yet to be released. PMP already has two 64pp MAN Lithomans, and a host of other heatset presses, the futures of which are also not yet known. PMP has a history of installing new equipment in its most modern plants, and relocating the existing equipment to other sites, before selling on after that.
The investment decision is a shot in the arm both for PMP and the Australian print industry, although it will cause no little consternation among rivals, chiefly IPMG. It was only two years ago that PMP was angling for a reverse takeover from IPMG such was its lack of confidence in the future. However despite trying to merge twice, the ACCC blocked the deal on both occasions. Former chief executive Bob Muscat departed 16 months ago, since when David Kirk came in, and the share price, which had been in terminal decline and had reached new lows of 40c, has more than trebled in value.
