BIRMINGHAM kitchen equipment maker Aga Foodservice said success in selling its iconic cookers overseas helped itreturn a strong set of results.

The firm said its product-led "internationalisation" had worked well and provided a solid platform for sales growth in 2006.

The makers of the traditional cast iron stoves began targeting mainland Europe and North America in 2001 after Glynwed, as the group was originally known, sold its piping business to concentrate on its kitchen appliances arm.

It said its expansion into Eastern Europe last year had brought encouraging sales. Foreign customers bought a quarter of the 6,200 own-brand cookers it produced in the first half of the year.

supporting the business at a time when Britons were making fewer big ticket purchases.