Ceramics firm Portmeirion enjoyed a strong year in 2019 - despite seeing a fall in both revenue and profit.
For the 12 months to December 31, the Stoke-based company saw like-for-like revenue decline by more than five per cent to £85 million - compared to £89.6 million the previous year. At the same time pre-tax profits fell from £9.7 million to £7.4 million.
Also in 2019, Portmeirion saw its 'rest of the world' sales fall by 29.6 per cent but enjoyed growth in a number of its key markets such as the UK, USA and South Korea.
Portmeirion CEO Mike Raybould said: "We are pleased that many parts of our business continued to perform strongly in 2019.
"The actions we took to protect our brands in the South Korean market resulted in a reduction in our like-for-like sales and profit in 2019. However, we have strengthened our teams and processes and start 2020 stronger as a result.
"We have a strong balance sheet and good headroom in our bank facilities which will support our business as we navigate the fast evolving Covid-19 situation, and we have already made several steps to preserve our short term cash flow."
He added: "We face political and economic uncertainties around the world, including the ongoing Brexit transition period and the outbreak of Covid-19 which is a fast-evolving threat which will inevitably create some disruption to our business.
"But our strategy and core values remain unchanged. We are focused on profitable sales growth through new product introduction, developing our markets, investing in our brands and enhancing our operational capabilities and efficiency supported with complementary strategic acquisitions."
In July, Portmeirion made its first acquisition outside of the UK after taking over US homewares business Nambe in a deal worh £9.5 million.
It came just months before Mike Raybould was appointed CEO in September following Lawrence Bryan's decision to step down from the role.
