Paint and coatings group AkzoNobel said on Wednesday it had booked a 5% increase in 2012 full-year sales, driven by favourable currency effects and higher prices.

The company booked a full year operating loss of €1.2bn, due to a third quarter charge of €2.1bn, which derived from its decorative paints division. Without the charge, the company would have booked net profit of €862m. 

In the fourth quarter of 2012, AkzoNobel booked a loss of €59m, compared with a loss of €68m in the final quarter of 2011.

‘The economic environment remains challenging and we expect no fundamental changes in the trends that we have seen recently in our businesses,’ said chief executive Ton Büchner in a statement.

The company will ‘continue to focus on performance improvements and operational efficiencies’ in 2013, the CEO said.