Sales at Konica Minolta’s Professional Print Business operation were up nearly 30% at the half-year as the business recovered from supply chain issues and other challenges.

For the six months ended 30 September sales at the division rose by 28.2% to ¥119.8bn (£712m), and the unit filed a big increase in operating profits, which jumped from ¥1.4bn to ¥5bn. 

KM said that sales volume of hardware grew significantly for both colour and monochrome models.

The manufacturer said that print volumes among commercial printing companies were “on a recovery trend” although the recovery at in-plant printers had been slower than expected.

It said that from Q3 onwards it would save costs by shipping toner by sea rather than air, which had been necessary to build up inventory in the market after last year’s supply issues. 

“In addition, the sales for dealers were increased due to the recovery in the supply of toners in Europe, resulting in the growth in non-hardware revenue,” KM stated. 

The group expects to spend about ¥3bn in air freight expenses across its office and pro print businesses this financial year in order to recover from the toner supply disruption.

At KM’s industrial unit, which includes inkjet, the manufacturer said that sales of inkjet presses grew in Europe and Japan, and non-hardware revenue “surged in all areas of inkjet press”, including labels, embellishment and textiles. Orders were up nearly 150% on the levels achieved in full year 2019. 

Total sales including its Digital Workplace and Healthcare businesses were up 19% at ¥530.7bn, but the overall operating loss was ¥5.1bn due to losses incurred at Digital Workplace, Healthcare and at the corporate level.