"Steady, the buffs" was the message from Dick Steele, chairman of my home-town pottery group Portmeirion today.
Reporting a strong Christmas performance and sales on track for a 4% rise in the full year, Steele said: "It's a very tough market out there and in the UK it is very, very tough."
So its a good thing that, under his command, Portmeirion has shifted its sales to the extent that 75% of them now come from exports to the likes of the US and South Korea.
Total sales are set to be about £53 million for 2011, making it the third consecutive annual increase. Analysts expect pre-tax profits to grow to £6 million from £5.4 million.
Since Steele became chairman in 2007, Portmeirion has reported sales growth on average of 15% a year and a similar 13% growth in profits. That is an impressive record for any UK manufacturing business - not least one based in Stoke-on-Trent.
Part of the success was the opportunistic acquisition of the Royal Worcester and Spode marques when they went under. But the real story is of creating classic designs that people want
on their dining tables. At the same time, more modern design work continues with the group taking a good share of the "casual dining" market.
At the same time, Portmeirion took on an extra 50 workers at its Potteries factory and warehouse last year when most manufacturer were cutting jobs.
At 440p, the shares (up 10p today) are at the level they were at in November 2010 and sell on just over 10 times next year's likely earnings. That's too cheap.
