English is the international language of business, it transcends boundaries and borders and gives uniformity to the frank discussions that decision makers are paid to make.

Thank god for that, as I'm having the uncomfortable feeling of shame and embarrassment that most English people get when they find themselves in a room full of cosmopolitan Europeans. "Please forgive my English," says an Italian journalist. "But can I ask the panel how the growth patterns over the fiscal year will translate into dividends for the shareholders?"

Forgive my Italian, but when in Rome I struggle to ask for two beers let alone discuss growth patterns for the fiscal year.

A press conference for German appliance giant BSH is bound to attract a cocktail of nationalities, it operates globally and has 44 factories at 31 locations in 15 countries including Brazil, China and Russia. Today's event even has headphones with simultaneous translation just like the UN, although it must be said I noticeably seem to be using them more than everyone else.

Unfortunately for me, the panel of directors have chosen to answer questions in their native German and, as none of those questions are someone asking the way to the train station or where the nearest post office is, I'd be lost without them.

The publication of the company's annual results has brought us all together and in a time of financial uncertainty, the performance of one of the biggest operators in the industry is bound to be a useful indicator of how the whole market has been performing. Equally, how it plans to move forward this year and beyond should give some signposts for its customers, suppliers and rivals alike.

So here's the headlines: Group sales are up by 6.1% to Euro8.8bn (£7bn) and pre-tax profit is up by 17.5% to Euro637m (£506m). Digging slightly deeper though reveals that these figures vary widely for individual regions and countries.

Western Europe is having a particularly difficult time with a total growth of 5.5%, but that excludes the home base of Germany where sales fell by 5.6%. The report also acknowledges the fall in demand in the UK, although it highlights excellent results thanks to improved margins and lower costs. The only countries where more appliances were sold in 2007 than in 2006 were Italy and Sweden. The fact that Western Europe, including Germany, represents nearly 72% of BSH's total sales shows how significant this struggling market is. The company insists, however, that it "is set to remain the clear market leader in Western Europe".

The figures that do indicate the direction the industry is going are the comparatively huge levels of growth in Eastern Europe (24%) and the Far East (26%) and while these are still small proportions of business, less than 18% combined, even the BSH annual report says "this is clear confirmation of the forecast suggesting that China will become the world's largest market for household appliances within the foreseeable future."

One on one

Ceo Dr Kurt-Ludwig Gutberlet may have a fantastically German name but, as to be expected and to make me feel even worse, he turns out to speak impeccable English when talking one on one. His grasp of the intricacies of a business with such a wide spread is impressive, so the first obvious question is why the UK has been singled out as successful in difficult times?

"For us, the UK market is one of the most important markets for built-in appliances in particular," he explains. "Neff has virtually built up the built-in market in the UK and we have a very good position in that sector and Mr Hanneck [UK ceo] is the one who has grown the business to that extent.

"Fortunately this has delivered very good results for our company - even last year when the housing market was already showing some signs of weakness."

Despite Neff's dominance in the UK, it is actually not one of BSH's principle global brands. According to Gutberlet it is number two in Germany (behind Siemens, with Bosch at number three) and has strong presence in Austria, Northern Italy and Benelux.

So no Neff business outside of Europe at all, are there any plans to expand it if it's a successful brand?
"No, to build up a brand on a global scale requires a lot of resources and outside Europe we wouldn't enjoy the same spill over that we have, for instance, with Bosch," he says. "It's amazing, we've been in Russia for over 10 years and haven't run the most extensive press campaigns there but nevertheless Bosch is one of the most admired and trusted appliance brands and that's a result of general positive brand perception.

"If we suddenly tried to make Neff popular among the Russian population it would cost a lot of time and money. So we will grow our international business mainly under the Bosch and Siemens brands."
Branding is clearly core to Gutberlet's, and BSH's, strategy. Its principle brands are divided by customer and design profile rather than price point, although that obviously differs. For example, there are separate design departments for each brand and they rarely mix. You need separate security access for each so Bosch designers can't wander into Siemens without express permission.

"We are proud of how we have managed our brand portfolio over the last 20 years," he says. "There aren't that many companies who have managed to keep different brands in the top segment as vivid and successful as we have.

"There's always a danger that the core brand of the company absorbs everything and the individual brands lose out. Especially with Neff, I think, we have done an excellent job to keep it on the brand profile. This is an investment of course. If you were looking at it simply from an industrial point of view, you would say 'let's put it all together and harmonise it as much as possible' but then the brands would be dead.

"Distinguishing the brands just with a brochure or advertising isn't enough. Not even design is enough. It's our conviction that it requires really different product features which means you have to give some features to one brand and not the others."

The future

While the 2007 results held up under tricky conditions, Gutberlet is already being cautious about 2008. The first quarter has already been difficult, he says, with poor forecasts for the US, Western Europe, Germany and Turkey, however the Far East and Eastern Europe should stay "positive". In the press conference, BSH said price rises in the UK were inevitable, estimated at 'low double digit increases'.

Gutberlet is happy to list all the out-of-my-hands reasons why this negative outlook should be the case.
"If you can give me the future exchange rate for the pound against the Euro my answer will be a lot easier," he laughs. "This is a huge factor for us. Like most of our competitors, we service the British market from EU factories, most of which are in the Euro domain so if the pound stays weak, or gets weaker, then this has an impact on the bottom line.

"The Turkish lira is a similar issue. In 2003, all of a sudden, the lira dropped by 40% and we lost Euro300m (£238m). Can you tell where the US dollar is going? Nobody knows.

"Steel prices are another issue, we have another round of price increases coming up so will that persist? These macro effects are very important."

So, Gutberlet is obviously making sure everyone is well aware of all the issues that can cover a further fall in growth rate. So, given this long list, when we're sitting here this time next year, what will Gutberlet consider a good result?
"Turnover wise, if you'd asked me in January I'd have been more optimistic and we'd be trying hard to achieve 6% growth. But with this environment can we grow the turnover worldwide? Yes, I think we can, but not at the same speed as the last two years. Our estimate is more like 3-4%."

As I'm being chased out of the room after already spending twice as long as I should've with Gutberlet, one more burning question needs to be answered - if the company lives and dies on its brand profiles, what brands does he have in his home?

"Siemens for cooking and a Bosch dishwasher," he laughs. " It's a very politically correct kitchen!"