Facts

In 2007, Duravit continued the successful development of recent years and, with a 19.0% rise, again achieved a double-digit growth rate. Overall sales to third parties increased to 311.3 million euros. Thus, for the first time, the Group broke through the 300 million euro barrier.
Duravit’s result is one of the success stories in the industry. This is because, in 2007, the building industry in Germany did not grow but experienced a downturn that was particularly apparent in the second half of the year. In 2007, domestic sales of German ceramics manufacturers fell by 7.1%. By increasing overseas sales, their overall sales grew by 1.2% compared with the previous year.

Despite this downward market trend, Duravit achieved a good increase in turnover in Germany of 2.3%. On international markets, both within and outside the EU, sales in the Group as a whole continued to grow considerably, generally in double figures. The largest part of the growth in sales came from products launched on the market in the last four years with international sales in the Duravit Group accounting for 76.2% of the total.

Duravit now operates with 24 subsidiaries and is present in more than 80 countries. Production takes place at several national and international locations: Hornberg, Schenkenzell, Meissen (Germany), Bischwiller (France), Cairo (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkey) and Chongqing (China). Calculated over the year, at the end of 2007, the Duravit Group had an average of 4,364 employees worldwide. It currently has over 5,000 employees as well as a majority shareholding in a further production location in Tunisia.