Cosmetics producer Bulgarian Rose said that its net profit rose by an annual 10.3% to 470,000 levs ($276,000/240,000 euro) in 2018, thanks to a rise in revenue. The company pocketed revenue of 6.9 million levs in 2018, up from 6.8 million levs the year before, Bulgarian Rose said in a financial statement on Wednesday. Expenses increased to 6.38 million levs last year from 6.22 million levs in 2017, following a rise in salary expenses. In July 2018, Bulgarian Rose signed a five-year agreement with China's Beijing Fangcaoziyan Cosmetics Trading Co. for exports of cosmetic products and rose oil. The value of exports is expected to reach 40 million levs in the long run, Bulgarian Rose said at the time. Karlovo-based Bulgarian Rose, established in 1948, manufactures cosmetic products for face, body, and hair using rose oil and locally-grown herbs. Bulgarian Rose, part of blue-chip industrial group Stara Planina Hold [BUL:5SR], has stores in nine cities across Bulgaria.