Austrian wood-based material manufacturer Egger Group reported stable sales in its first half year results 2024/25, despite the challenging market.

The Egger Group management team (left to right); Chief financial officer Thomas Leissing, chief technology officer Hannes Mitterweissacher, chief supply chain officer Frank Bölling and chief sales officer Michael Egger Jnr

Consolidated sales were reported as  €2.1 billion, down 0.2 % (compared to the previous year).

However its EBIDTA was up 7% to €320.3 million, with EBITDA margin of 15.3%.

Sponsored Video

Lauren Goodbrand of Kitchens International on winning the Kbsa Concept Designer Award 2024

According to the company, it is still feeling the effects of the “challenging” construction industry, weak consumption, major global conflicts and turbulence in economic policy.

It follows its 2023/2024 financial year results, where overall turnover was down 7.1% (compared to the previous year), while EBITDA declined 18.1 % (compared to the previous year).

This year, Egger’s decorative product area for furniture and interior design generated unconsolidated sales of  €1.9bn, up 2.4% (compared to the previous year).

It included the plant in Markt Bibart, Germany, which was acquired at the end of 2023, and increase in sales volumes at the plant in Lexington, USA and sales at Biskupiec, Poland.

However, Egger pointed out core markets in Central Europe were challenging, with the German-speaking region experiencing high market and price pressure.

The product area for wood construction and flooring, which generated unconsolidated sales of €351 million was down 9.4% (on the previous year), affected by the downturn in the construction industry.

However. Egger continued to invest € 218.4 million in the first half of the year (down from €238.6 million last year) on capacity expansion projects.

It included equipment for decorative faced chipboard in its Barony plant in the UK and the modernisation of its resin plant in Wismar, Germany.

In addition, investments were made or started at its two plants in Caorso, Italy and Markt Bibart in Germany, to expand capacity and utilise synergies within the group.

A central focus of the investment projects was on increasing sustainability performance, with the target of Net Zero by 2050.

These included the expansion of capacities for processing recycled wood, as well as additional collection locations for pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled wood.

Most recently, two new Timberpak recycling collection sites were put into operation in Germany.

The construction of an additional power plant at the St. Johann in Tirol plant, Austria, which began in spring 2024, will also expand capacities for generating heat and electricity from biogenic fuels.

Egger has created the Decorative Collection 24+ for furniture and interior design and is set to launch the Flooring Collection 25+, available from specialist distributors and DIY stores from January 2025.

Stating the outlook remains subject to “great” uncertainty, Egger Group’s revenue and earnings expectations for the second half of the 2024/2025 financial year remain cautious.

Chief financial officer of Egger Group and speaker of the group management Thomas Leissing said: “When navigating particularly turbulent and challenging times, it is crucial that we can rely on our strong foundations.

“We are and always will be a family business, this is clearly anchored in our strategy.

“Our long-term focus is on the sustainable development of the company over generations.

“This enables us to utilise opportunities and continue to invest in our plants even in difficult economic times.

“Together with our more than 11,000 employees, we will also master the difficult market context well.”