Somewhat counter to what many might have been expecting, Portmeirion Group (LON:PMP) , the AIM listed manufacturer and worldwide distributor of 'traditional' household goods has reported strong trading through the Christmas period – I enjoy my breakfast from Portmeirion's Botanic Garden range! You can’t get much more traditional than Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel, the Group’s brands.Revenues for the full year to 31 December 2010 are now expected to be at least £50m, with over £13m of sales under the Spode and Royal Worcester brands and well above the £12m target referred to in their last trading update. 2010 sales were excellent, particularly in the US, South Korea, Canada and Italy. Sales of Spode Christmas Tree in the US and Sophie Conran for Portmeirion products worldwide were particularly strong. In 2011 they will launch over 250 new products (not too fast!) including a collection of Royal Worcester items to commemorate the Royal Wedding – porcelain manufacturers love a good Royal Wedding.
The Balance Sheet remains strong with the net cash position having improved from £4.4m at the end of 2009 to over £6m at 31 December 2010. Although there is small matter of a pension deficit - another thing you get with tradition!Brave shareholders will have been rewarded with a near 500% rise in the share price from the Feb 2009 lows – who needs speculative resource stocks when you can invest in traditional British china!
