10 February 2015

Q4 boosted by seasonal surge in orders - confidence persists but so do the challenges

2014 finished on a positive note as both printing output and orders continued to grow in Q4. Orders in Q4 experienced a strong improvement over Q3 and just surpassed expectations for the period according to the latest BPIF Printing Outlook survey. More than half (56%) of printers were able to grow their order levels – just over a quarter (27%) managed to keep orders at a steady level whilst 18% suffered from falling orders in Q4. The resulting overall balance ( 38) just crept above the forecast for the period ( 37). The Q4 performance for both orders and output extends the positive growth run to seven consecutive quarters.

Also in Printing Outlook this quarter:

• Pay Reviews – what have companies done and what do they expect to do?
• Web to Print - just how much of printing companies turnover is currently derived through Web to Print?
• How do respondents view the current position of their business?
• Consumables – paper consumption data and printing ink volumes and values.
• A more in-depth look at energy costs.