Hong Kong-controlled Opus Group – which includes Ligare in Sydney, CanPrint in Canberra and McPherson’s in Victoria - increased its profit by 3 percent to $5.7 million for the year ended December 2017.

Screen’s Truepress Jet520HD, a digital inkjet press, has won a 2018 technology award from the Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology. Screen’s flagship high-speed web model can print directly on standard offset coated papers.

Mactac, a leading global brand of pressure sensitive graphic and decorative products, has appointed Sydney-based HVG Graphics Media as its new distributor in Australia for screen, digital and architectural applications.

IVE Group has recorded 'very strong' first half results, with revenue up 73 per cent to $359 million and pro-forma earnings before tax up 57 per cent to $38.3 million. IVE has invested $50m in its new and highly automated Franklin WEB NSW operation in western Sydney.

Major investor Darwin Deason has nominated a full slate of ten directors to replace Xerox Corp’s existing board at the company’s upcoming AGM, in his latest bid to block Fujifilm from taking over the company.

Australian Paper and the AMWU have agreed to return to the negotiating table in a bid to end a strike over wages at the company’s Preston envelope manufacturing facility that has now entered its 7th week.

PMP posted a net loss of $19 million for the six months ended December 31, 2017, despite a 52% jump in sales driven by the acquisition of IPMG. PMP also announced it has appointed former IPMG chief executive Kevin Slaven as its new CEO.

Paper merchant Spicers reported a statutory profit after tax of $1.9 million for the half-year ended December 2017, with net sales down 1 percent to $193.2 million. A decline in print and packaging sales revenue 'moderated' while sign and display revenue streams grew strongly.

Letterboxing giant Salmat has posted a 75 percent increase in net profit in its half-yearly results for the second half of 2017. Though revenue was down, the boost in profits was driven by improved margins and reduced costs. Net profit after tax was $2.1 million, up from $1.2 million.

Print21 editor Andy McCourt looks at the rise and state of play of robotics in manufacturing – and print/packaging in particular, in the latest issue of Print21 magazine.

CMYKhub has installed a new Horizon StitchLiner Mark III from Currie Group into its plant in Victoria as part of a push to improve its digital book finishing capabilities across the eastern seaboard. The company consolidated and updated its equipment in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Plastic is an effective packaging material but there’s now eight million tonnes of the stuff floating malignant in the oceans. Laurel Brunner reports that paper companies are making big strides in developing recyclable alternatives based on wood pulp.

Representatives of Printing Industries and JDA Print Recruit met with Trent Zimmerman, Federal MP for North Sydney, at Immij's offices in Lane Cove today to raise concerns facing the industry. Andrew Macaulay, CEO PIAA, told Print21 that events like these were a vital part of the association's strategy.

A watershed moment has arrived for the packaging industry, especially the corrugated carton board sector, with the launch in Israel of the HP PageWide C500 press. Patrick Howard reports on the building wave.

Fairfax is stepping up talks with News Corp on sharing printing facilities and collaborating on distribution after posting a 54 percent fall in net profit in the first six months of the financial year.

Much has been made of the power of personalisation, with labels, packaging and print-on-demand all among the sectors all embracing the value it offers. Mailing, too, is jumping on board the personalisation trend - with good reason, as Jake Nelson reports in the latest issue of Print21 Magazine.