Egger says it will continue with increased investment after a drop in profitability.
The flooring and panel group says that sales in the half-year to 31 October rose by 2.6% to €2.148bn but EBITDA fell 8.4% to €293.3m.
Decorative products for furniture and interior design sales rose by 2.6% to €1.9bn, spread evening across territories and thanks to slight volume and price increases. EBITDA fell, primarily due to weaker results in Western Europe.
Flooring and wood construction sales rose by 4% to €365.1m. ‘The earnings situation remains extremely tense. Demand in the flooring segment in particular is weak and the lack of new construction activity could only be partially offset by renovations,’ it says.
‘Even in the current challenging market environment, Egger continued to pursue its long-term investment strategy for capacity expansion and sustainability projects at its plants. Investments totalled €248.6m: in the same period last year it was €218.4m. Particularly noteworthy is the major multi-stage project at the Markt Bibart plant, Germany: one of the largest investment projects in the industry: of more than €200m will be invested there in sustainability, upgrading and automation by 2026,’ says the group.
‘One milestone is the new processing facility for recycled wood, which has started operation gradually since autumn 2025. In future, it will enable the use of recycled wood in particleboard production – a key step for the circular economy. At the same time, upgrading capacities are gradually being built up at the location. At the beginning of 2026, the production of laminated particleboard with trendy decors will start on a new short-cycle press.’
‘Of course we would like to see a more dynamic development. However, given the duration and intensity of the economically challenging phase in which we have found ourselves for some time now, we are satisfied. For us, stability in no way means stagnation: on the contrary, we use it as a basis for targeted investments in the future, sustainability and innovation. We would like to thank our highly committed 12,000 employees worldwide, whose dedication and competence have made a significant contribution to this stable result,’ says Thomas Leissing, Egger director.
