The overall group posted sales up nearly 21% at ¥1,205bn (£7.9bn) in the six months to 30 September, boosted mainly by a strong performance at its Healthcare wing. 

Operating profits jumped by 91% to ¥107.9bn.

The Japanese manufacturer reorganised its operations this financial year into four business divisions, from three. 

Document Solutions became Business Innovation, while the new Materials segment includes production services that previously fell under Document Solutions as well as the graphic systems business.

Fujifilm said it intended to offer “one-stop solutions, from analogue to digital, that combine sales capabilities, technological and product strengths of both companies”.

The other two divisions are Healthcare and Imaging. Healthcare sales jumped by 51.4%, in part due to growing demand for certain products fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it overtook Business Innovation as Fujifilm’s biggest division.

The Materials division posted sales up 13% at ¥306.4bn, and operating profits jumped by 46.7% to ¥39.2bn.

Sales at the graphic communications part of the Materials business were up 9.5% to ¥138.5bn.

Fujifilm said that printing plates remained impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic situation in Southeast Asia and other regions “but revenue rose as we actively utilised online negotiations and boosted sales”.

The group launched the Jet Press 750S High Speed Model during the period, and also began rolling out its new Revoria toner digital press range in some territories, although not in the UK as yet. 

Fujifilm described sales of industrial inkjet printheads as “steady, reflecting the growing demand in the building materials printing markets in Europe and China”. 

Sales of mainly dye inks for household and office markets were up, “contributing to overall revenue growth”. 

The group also said it planned to expand its inkjet activities, and stated: “We will accelerate business growth further by building a global manufacturing structure that satisfies the needs of the inkjet market,” although further details were unavailable at the time of writing. 

In the UK Fujifilm has a speciality ink business in Broadstairs, Kent, that develops and manufactures inkjet, screen and flexo inks. 

It also has an imaging colorants business in Grangemouth, Scotland that makes and develops inkjet colorants. The group announced a multi-million dollar investment in expanding its US inkjet colorants business earlier this year. 

Over the summer Fujifilm also unveiled two new models and a fresh blueprint for its wide-format Acuity inkjet family. 

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Source: PrintWeek UK