Heidelberg chairman backs embattled CFO

FRANKFURT Oct 22 (Reuters) - The supervisory board chairman of Heidelberg (HDDG.DE), the world's largest manufacturer of printing presses, backed Chief Financial Officer Dirk Kaliebe amid a report he would be sacked.

In a statement, the company quoted Chairman Mark Woessner as saying that Kaliebe's position at the company was not up for debate.

"In fact, Dirk Kaliebe enjoys his full confidence as well as that of his chief executive, Bernhard Schreier," Heidelberg said.

Earlier Germany's online version of Capital magazine had quoted a supervisory board source as saying Kaliebe's contract would not be extended.

Management suffered a loss of investor confidence following surprise profit warnings and Kaliebe, formerly the head of investor relations, along with Schreier have mainly been blamed.

The company is suffering from growing Japanese competition boosted by a weak yen as well as a structural shift in the printing market away from smaller print shops that represent the bulk of its customers for machines like the Speedmaster SM 102 Perfector.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)