UPDATE 1-Heidelberg sales chief leaves amid reorganisation

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Thu Nov 26, 2009 3:46pm GMT

* Juergen Rautert leaves management board by mutual consent

* Importance of services elevated as new division is formed

* Services chief appointed to management board

* Shares fall 3.9 pct by 1539 GMT amid weak broader market

(Adds details, backround)

FRANKFURT, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The supervisory board of struggling printing press maker Heidelberg (HDDG.DE) reshuffled management and approved a reorganisation to lower its dependence on new sales of machines amid a structural crisis in the market.

Heidelberg's head of sales, Juergen Rautert, will leave the management board in January after a five-year tenure and will relinquish his responsibilities to Chief Executive Bernhard Schreier.

In the process, the company will be split into three divisions, with Press and Postpress being merged into "Heidelberg Equipment" as of the start of its next fiscal year in April.

A new segment will be formed called "Heidelberg Services" to emphasise the importance of this less-cyclical business, and Marcel Kiessling will be appointed to the management board in January with eventual responsibility for the division.

"The new corporate structure will result in more targeted market approach and enhance the efficiency of the services we offer customers," Schreier said in a statement.

A shift in advertising away from print to online media has led to continuously lower investment in new offset printing presses like the Speedmaster XL 105. This has forced Heidelberg to look for new business that cannot be so easily replaced by the internet as costly mail-order catalogues have been.

Instead, Heidelberg has expanded into larger format machines used primarily for elaborate packaging of branded goods like spirits and perfume while also trying to boost revenue gained from after-sales services.

It offers its own "Saphira" line of consumables such as inks and coatings or blankets, rollers and offset printing plates.

German rival manroland put on ice plans for a merger with Heidelberg after the latter warned in early October its operating loss could triple to 150 million euros ($226 million) in the current fiscal year. [nLC362906] [nL9688816]

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)

((christiaan.hetzner@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: christiaan.hetzner.reuters.com@reuters.net; +49 69 7565 1249))

($1=.6625 Euro) Keywords: HEIDELBERG/

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