Meissen (dpa/sn) – The Meissen porcelain manufactory is fighting its way out of the red after years of being in the red. According to its own statements, the state-owned company achieved a balanced operating result in 2022 for the first time in many years. The company with the trademark of the crossed blue swords announced on Monday that the overall result after interest is also expected to be balanced. In the previous year there was still a loss of 1.4 million euros. Sales increased by almost 10 percent to 32.5 million euros in 2022. It was better than expected due to the “difficult year 2022”, it said.
“Although the specialist trade and export business was significantly affected by the zero-Covid policy in China and the loss of business in Russia, it was possible to increase slightly overall,” the company announced. A forecast for the 2023 financial year is difficult to make due to the uncertain economic and political situation. High inflation, significantly rising energy costs and strong wage increases cannot simply be passed on through higher prices. The development of tourism – above all from wealthy customers from Asia and the USA – will be essential for the business prospects.
Meissen changed course in 2009 under ex-managing director Christian Kurtzke. He wanted to convert the manufactory into a luxury group and also had jewelry, clothing and accessories made. The concept failed miserably. In 2014 there was a loss of 19.2 million euros. Even later, the company had to make compromises when it came to ambitious goals. In the future plan adopted in 2017 under the then CDU Finance Minister Georg Unland, sales of around 50 million euros were targeted for the coming years. In 2018 it was around 38 million euros.
