METTLACH (dpa-AFX) - Ceramics manufacturer Villeroy & Boch says it can look back on a successful business year despite more expensive energy and consumer restraint due to inflation. This year, the company is aiming for four to seven percent more sales in times of the Ukraine war and higher interest rates, mainly due to price increase effects, according to statements made on Thursday. Operating profit is expected to be at the previous year's level.

The company, which is headquartered in a former monastery in Mettlach, Saarland, celebrates its anniversary in 2023: the company tradition goes back 275 years. At the same time, Villeroy & Boch is increasingly relying on digital sales as an "infinite showcase," social media and collaboration with influencers such as Farina Opoku aka Novalanalove, with around two million followers.

Compared to 2021, the family-owned company increased group sales by 5.2 percent to 994.5 million euros and operating profit (Ebit) by 7 percent to 96.8 million euros. Net profit increased by 18.2 percent to 71.5 million euros. The number of employees fell by 87 to 6415. According to its own figures, Villeroy & Boch is represented in 125 countries.

CEO Frank Göring spoke of special challenges in the past year, such as energy prices, where a ceramics company with its firing processes is "particularly sensitive". He also pointed out that the transport of goods in sea containers was temporarily much more expensive.

According to Göring, the company vacations were postponed from summer to December in order to be able to produce as much as possible beforehand this winter due to an initially feared gas shortage. The workforce was not enthusiastic about this, he said. Villeroy & Boch is withdrawing from Russia. The 62-year-old CEO also announced that he would quit at the end of the year if a suitable successor could be found./jaa/DP/men