Staffordshire pottery group’s Royal Worcester brand expects to sell ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of royal wedding commemorative collection

A commemorative collection of gold-trimmed plates and cups devoted to next year’s royal wedding looked set to be a major money-spinner for the Staffordshire pottery group Portmeirion.

Shares in the Aim-listed manufacturing company, known for its Royal Worcester fine bone china and its blue and white Spode tableware, hit a 13-year high yesterday after the chairman, Dick Steele, said he expected to sell “hundreds of thousands of pounds” worth of the wedding merchandise.

The Royal Worcester products, which range from a £40 cup and saucer to a £400 lion’s-head vase, are adorned with a portrait of the happy couple and edged in 22-carat gold. They will be among 250 new products launched by the company next year.

“We are not betting the company on it [the royal wedding],” said Steele, who said he was putting the finishing touches to the UK sales estimate. “We are still deciding how much to produce. There is certainly overseas demand, particularly from Canada, and we think other English-speaking countries will be interested.

“From what I am hearing, the couple are quite highly regarded in the US as well.”

The marriage in April of Prince William and Kate Middleton in Westminster Abbey is expected to deliver a major fillip to the UK economy and Portmeirion is one of the companies that is expected to benefit. The range of six products will be finished at its Stoke-on-Trent factory.

The company, which also owns the Pimpernel brand, said sales were up 24% in the six months to 30 June. The robust trend had continued in the second half with strong demand from important export markets such as the US, South Korea and Canada.

Portmeirion, which bought Spode and Royal Worcester from their administrators for £3.2m last year, said the brands’ sales had exceeded the £12m target set at the time of deal. Steele said 2010 would be another “record year for sales as we continue to capitalise on the Spode and Royal Worcester brands”.

He added: “Our investment in new products under both these and our Portmeirion and Pimpernel brands has contributed greatly to our revenue growth.”

Steele said strong trading meant group profits for the year would be “significantly ahead of market expectations” and the shares closed up 14% at 495p. The stock has risen more than 25% this month to value Portmeirion at nearly £50m.

Freddie George, a Seymour Pierce analyst, said Portmeirion had significant potential to develop new markets and to exploit Spode and Royal Worcester’s historic pattern books. He lifted his profit forecast for 2010 from £4.5m to £5m.

Business: Manufacturing sector | guardian.co.uk