Portmeirion expects to report record revenues

STOKE-ON-TRENT pottery group Portmeirion has announced that it traded strongly through the final quarter of 2014.

It expects to report record revenues for the year ended December 31 of more than £61m, around 5% above last year.

This is the sixth consecutive year in which it will have achieved record sales.

Now the firm plans to invest £1.5m in a new kiln and other equipment to increase its capacity by more than 50%.

In a trading update to the London Stock Exchange, the AIM-listed firm manufacturer and distributor of homewares said it expects profit before tax for the year to December 31 to be in line with market expectations.
 
“Demand for the products we make in our UK factory has been particularly strong in 2014 and continues to be so,” it said.

“Consequently, the board has approved the investment of some £1.5m in a new kiln and other equipment which will increase the capacity of our UK factory by over 50%.”

The kiln will be commissioned in the final quarter of 2015.
 
We expect to announce the Group’s preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2014 on 12 March 2015. The Board remains committed to a progressive dividend policy.
 
Dick Steele, the company’s non-executive chairman, said: “I am delighted with the achievement of another record level of sales. Our confidence in the future of the business is underlined by the additional investment announced today.”