The revenue of its Slovenian arm totalled EUR 134.4m and that of its Chinese factory EUR 8.1m, Domel manager Zvonimir Slavko Torkar said at a news conference in Železniki on Tuesday.

This was also the first time in the company's history that profit exceeded EUR 10m, with net profit at EUR 9.8m.

"Such growth was hard to manage, as it demanded a lot of resources, especially staff and also machines," said Torkar.

Domel also invested a lot, as much as EUR 16m, mostly to buy new equipment for new projects, but also to train its staff and hire new workers, he said.

The growth was mostly fuelled by new programmes, such as electronically commutated motors and components of electric motors produced at its new facility in Škofja Loka.

Domel Holding chairman Matjaž Čemažar said the company expected similar trends to continue this year, saying 14% growth was also posted in the first quarter of 2018.

However, profitability is a bit lower because Domel is introducing new products, he explained.

He said they were entering the market of electric vehicles in the segment of auxiliary motors for various systems in a vehicle.

On Friday, the company will inaugurate its Škofja Loka facility, where some 300 workers have been producing components for electric motors for a while. The investment cost EUR 13m.

Domel, with 1,350 employees, is a worker-owned company. At the moment, Domel Holding has 630 owners, which Čemažar said "is stable ownership", so they see no need to make any major changes.