After the involuntary pause in 2009, Duravit was once again able to continue the growth course of previous years under the more stable worldwide economic conditions in 2010. With a few exceptions, the international markets outside the EU showed a considerable growth in sales. Market developments within the EU were stable for the most part, with Germany seeing an increase of 4%. Overall, Group sales rose by 12.1% and in 2010 totalled 328.2 million euros. These figures show that Duravit is performing better than the competition on almost all markets.
- Duravit decided to build the new factory in the state of Gujarat.
A few international projects were also brought to a successful conclusion in 2010. After many years' successful canvassing of the Polish market, it was ready for its own marketing company. Duravit Saudi Arabia LLC was launched in Saudi Arabia as another new sales organisation.
With the opening of a tenth Duravit production site to add to its other sites around the world, Duravit closed a gap on the Asian continent. In addition to the three factories in Germany, namely in Hornberg and Meißen and the Group’s only bathroom furniture factory in Schenkenzell, as well as factories in France, Egypt, Tunisia, China and Turkey, Duravit now also manufactures in India.
- SensoWash offers a new stand for hygiene and comfort.
Capital expenditures concentrated on the further optimisation of manufacturing costs, the continued strengthening of production safety and targeted environmental measures. The development tempo at Duravit also remained high and was even stepped up, resulting in products like the new SensoWash electronic shower-toilet seat, which could even open up new business opportunities.
Duravit was able to further expand personnel structures. The Duravit Group had 5,415 employees worldwide. The growth of Duravit AG was 1.0%, with 20.7% of those employed within the Group working in Germany. This clearly illustrates that the growth is mainly outside of Germany but, at the same time, it also creates and secures jobs in Germany.
Key sales markets in 2010 were Central Europe, particularly Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and France, as well as the Middle East and increasingly some Asian countries. The majority of sales were in the euro region; within the Duravit Group, the international share of turnover totalled 77.1%.