LANDSBERG AM LECH (dpa-AFX) - The final quarter gave commercial kitchen supplier Rational a strong boost last year. The preliminary full-year figures exceed management's forecast for sales and profits, the company announced surprisingly on Thursday afternoon in Landsberg am Lech. Thanks to the full order book combined with sufficient supplies of electronic components in the second half of the year, the high order backlogs could have been reduced, the company said. The MDax-listed stock turned positive after the news, most recently trading at a high since the beginning of August with a gain of 4.8 percent.

With an increase of almost one-third compared to 2021, Rational turned over more than one billion euros last year. Currency effects and price increases also helped. Management had expected growth of a maximum of 28 percent. Of the sales, a record 235 million euros remained before interest and taxes (Ebit), according to Rational, almost half more than a year earlier. The operating margin was therefore around 23 percent. This was also better than the 22.5 percent forecast in the best case scenario. Rational plans to present final figures on March 28./lew/jha/