—  Koenig & Bauer has reported a large increase in order intake in the first half of the year. Company orders intake in the first half increased by 16.9% to €709.3m, from a previous year figure of €606.9m, which the company said was driven by a further acceleration in demand in the second quarter to €411.7m. The order backlog remains at a new record high in recent corporate history at €1.12bn. Koenig & Bauer  said it has also seen a significant improvement in cash generation. The Paper & Packaging Sheetfed Systems (P&P) segment recorded order intake in the first half of €398.5m, up 13.7% on the prior year figure of €350.4m, of which €204.2m was attributable to Q2. Special & New Technologies (S&T) segment, a first-half turnaround was achieved with operating EBITDA of €11.8m, compared to -€4m a year earlier, driven by strong sequential earnings momentum in Q2 (€7.7m, following €4.1m in the first quarter).