Sports car maker Ferrari churned out record profits in 2007 as sales in Asia and the Middle East soared, official accounts figures confirmed on Tuesday.
In the same year that Ferrari's Formula 1 team swept the drivers' and constructors' championships, global sales rose 15.3% to 1.67 billion.
The Fiat-owned group sold a total of 6,465 cars around the world compared to 5,671 in 2006. As a result operating profits shot up 45% to 266 million euros.
''These are the best results in the company's history,'' a Ferrari statement said after the board approved the glowing 2007 accounts sheet.
Hailing what he called a ''historic'' year, chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo noted that the company had celebrated its 60th anniversary and also launched an important new model, the 430 Scuderia.
He said he was sure the company would successfully negotiate the ''new challenges'' awaiting it in 2008.
Ferrari announced last month that it already has 500 orders for the new model in the United States, its biggest market.
One figure Ferrari officials were keen to highlight regarded profitability which rose from 12.6% to 16% despite the weakness of the dollar - the currency in which 30% of Ferrari's business is conducted.
Sales performed well in traditional markets such as the United States and Europe but the strongest increases came in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, where turnover was up 47.2% and 32% respectively.
Ferrari's net financial position at the end of 2007 was in the black to a tune of 299 million euros, it said.
R&D together with investments, which included a new company canteen and a new factory building, amounted to 18% of sales.
