Turnover growth once again for Egger

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Egger/Fordaq
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The Egger Group with its headquarters in St. Johann, Tyrol looks back with satisfaction on its 2014/2015 financial year, which concluded at the end of April. All key figures have developed positively, reports Egger. The group now employs 7,400 people.

General Development

With a turnover of 2.26 billion euros generated across the Group, Egger achieved a new record figure. Above all, the decorative wood-based materials sector and in particular the Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Central and Eastern Europe markets, contributed to the increase in turnover. Operative cash-flow also increased from the previous year. EBITDA amounted to EUR 318.4 million and was 2 % higher, compared to the same period last year. The EBITDA margin was kept stable at 14.1 %, which was the same as the previous year. 

“Our 17 manufacturing sites operated to a high capacity during the last financial year. Our plants in Western Europe have developed well during the past twelve months. Supported by stable raw materials markets, we were able to exploit positive demand developments in Great Britain, Germany as well as Central and Southern Europe to expand our market share. Despite a difficult market environment, our French team managed to expand its volumes and profitability by means of market share increases and additional sales in Spain, Italy, Germany and Benelux. Development is also stable in Eastern Europe, with setbacks in the Ukraine being countered by gains in almost all the other markets,” says Thomas Leissing, spokesperson for Egger.

A negative influence on regional business came from the political and currency-related crisis in Russia, as well as difficult market environments in the building products and flooring business divisions. “Overcapacities in the laminate flooring and OSB sectors, as well as currency factors, have led to slight downturns in specific markets. Overall the positive development clearly shows that the Egger Group is on the right course with its strategic decisions on investment and growth, as well as with product developments and innovations,” comments Thomas Leissing on future challenging developments.

Development of the divisions

Around three quarters (75.1 %) of the turnover generated in 2014/2015 is attributable to the Decorative Products division, which was able to increase its sales by + 4.2 % compared to the previous year.

The Retail Products division recorded a fall in turnover of - 6.5 %. The main reason for this development lies in a re-focussed approach, whereby Egger has withdrawn from unprofitable laminate flooring markets. The recently introduced collection of Egger Laminate flooring for 2015-2017 in this division is showing a satisfactory turnover development.

In the Building Products division (OSB and timber), total turnover fell by - 5.6 % over the previous year. The reason for this is considerable overcapacity of OSB on the market. Although a volume increase of + 5.3 % was achieved in the 2014/2015 OSB business – especially in Central and Eastern Europe – significantly falling market prices caused a drop in turnover, however, in the OSB sector. 

Production

All 17 plants belonging to the Egger Group operated to a very high capacity during the past financial year. The volume of coreboards produced (chipboard, MDF and OSB) including timber, remained at the previous year's level of 7.5 million m3. Production increased on the coating lines to 264.9 million m2. The production volume of laminates during the 2014/2015 financial year was 27.8 million m2.

Outlook

For all Western European sales markets including Great Britain and Ireland, Egger is expecting a stable development of the overall economic situation for the current 2015/2016 financial year once again. For Russia and the countries partly affected by political tension in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, no improvement is anticipated in the short term. “We have positive expectations in the Decorative Products and Retail Products divisions. Due to the increased overcapacity on the OSB market, we anticipate ongoing pressure on prices and margins in the Building Products division,” says Thomas Leissing, who is planning further sales and profit growth across the Group for the 2015/2016 financial year.

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