PRESS FOLDER ZOW BAD SALZUFLEN FEBRUARY 2012 ZOW PRESS FOLDER
BAD SALZUFLEN, FEBRUARY 2012
Your contact persons:
Ulrich Bühler Head of Sales/Marketing EGGER Group
Klaus Monhoff Head of Product Management Decorative EGGER Group
For inquiries: FRITZ EGGER GmbH & Co. OG Plenos Holzwerkstoffe Agentur für Kommunikation Christina Werthner Dr. Wolfgang Immerschitt Weiberndorf 20 Paracelsusstrasse 4 6380 St. Johann in Tirol 5020 Salzburg Austria Austria T +43 5 0600-10681 T +43 662 620 242-0 F +43 5 0600-90681 F +43 662 620 242-20 [email protected] [email protected]
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EGGER EXPECTS STABLE ECONOMIC CLIMATE IN THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY Trend to invest in tangible assets boosts demand for furnishings and renovations The debt crisis in many countries and the loss of confidence in the Euro has led to a trend to invest in tangible assets such as real estate and furniture. Ulrich Bühler, Head of Sales/Marketing EGGER Group, believes this opens up opportunities for the furniture industry: “We expect the favourable economic climate in this sector to be sustained for some time.” In his opinion, this trend is being intensified by the fact that lower mortgage interest rates are making real estate acquisitions more attractive for many people, and that young people are also able to afford to buy property as a result. Furthermore, investors are looking for alternatives that cover the additional demand for residential space and offer stable yields. Rising energy costs and attractive subsidies for energy conservation measures are keeping the renovation potential high. All of these factors benefit the furniture industry, which is generally enjoying a positive business climate even though the mood has worsened slightly in the last quarter of 2011. The residential construction trend also gives reason for optimism: new construction in Western Europe has once again stabilised after the crisis, with slight annual increases expected up to the year 2013. Growth is much stronger in Eastern Europe, including Russia: from less than 800,000 residential units in the year 2006, the new construction market is expected to reach close to one million. The furniture industry enjoyed significant growth in the past year. According to HDH/VDM data, turnover in the furniture industry grew by a total of 7.1 % while the increase for office furniture was 18 %. The wood processing industry as a whole emerged from the crisis in the spring of 2010 and has reported turnover increases every month since then.
EGGER REPORTS GROWING TURNOVER The EGGER Group has been able to benefit from the economic conditions in the wood processing and construction industries: consolidated semi-annual turnover as of 31st October 2011 increased by 12 % to EUR 975 million for the period of May to October. According to the semi-annual financial report of the wood-based materials producer, EBITDA amounted to EUR 127 million which was 5 % higher than in the same period last year. The profit margin in relation to turnover decreased slightly to 13 % since cost increases, especially in raw materials, could not be passed on entirely. This remains the biggest problem: prices for raw materials are rising faster than those for wood-based materials. EGGER manufactures in seven countries with 17 plants across Europe. With 6,500 employees, around 6.5 million cubic metres
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(229.5 million cubic feet) of wood-based materials are being produced in the current business year. Geographically speaking, EGGER focuses on Europe with North- Western Europe as the key market with a turnover share of about one third. One quarter comes from Central and Eastern Europe, followed by South-Western Europe as well as the U.K. and Ireland with 12 % each and Central-Southern Europe with 7 %; Russia and overseas have a share of 5 % each.
154 MILLION EUROS INVESTED Investments of EUR 154 million were made in the first half of the 2011/2012 business year. Compared to last year (EUR 65 million) this represents a significant increase. About one sixth of the sum was spent on maintenance investments and EUR 130 million was growth investments. These mainly consist of the new OSB plant and the resin plant in Radauti, Romania; the optimisation of wood processing and logistics at the plants in France; the construction of an impregnation line in Hexham, UK; the laminate capacity increase in Gifhorn, Germany; the expansion of edging production in Gebze, Turkey and the construction of a thin chipboard production plant in Shuya, Russia. In addition to the investments listed above, the Russian chipboard manufacturer OOO Gagarinskiy Fanerniy Zavod in Gagarin was taken over on 1st July 2011. The plant was integrated rapidly into the Russian EGGER organisation. With these additional capacities, all customer requirements in Russia can now be met sustainably. In addition to the installation of a short-cycle press and an automated packaging line, a warehouse with an area of 11,500m 2 (123,785ft2) will be constructed in Rambervillers (FR) in 2012. The impregnation line in Hexham (UK) is also being replaced.
PROGRESS 2012 “Based on a stable order volume in the furniture industry and distribution, we once again expect satisfactory capacity utilisation in 2012,” Ulrich Bühler says with optimism. With the collection updates, attractive product programmes continue to be offered to customers. ZOOM 2012 for the furniture and specification industry is being introduced in the spring, and the new Floorline collection was presented at the Domotex just a few days ago. The latest investments in an OSB plant in Radauti result in higher capacities, improving the availability of the EGGER OSB product range while shortening delivery times and therefore increasing flexibility. Additionally, EGGER highlights its claim to be the leading wood-based material manufacturer with numerous new developments. In addition to the further development of new decors and surfaces, EGGER counts on digital solutions: the Virtual Design Studio, presented at the ZOW one year ago, has been positioned in the market with great success and recently received the German Design Award 2012 in silver.
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MARKET SITUATION AND OUTLOOK 2011 / 2012
Rising investments in real estate and Improved sales volumes of wood-based tangible assets materials in all sales regions, but with Furniture industry and distributors: differing regional results stable situation in the key sales EUR 154 million invested markets ZOOM 2012 and Floorline: attractive new Turnover increased to EUR 975 product and service offerings million (+ 12 %) EGGER wins German Design Award EBITDA EUR 127 million (+ 5 %) 2012 in silver Slight drop in margin
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EGGER PURSUES FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL SOLUTIONS Virtual Design Studio (VDS) HD 3.0 offers new functions
EGGER first introduced the Virtual Design Studio VDS at the ZOW 2010. VDS HD has undergone further development this year. New functions offered by VDS HD 3.0 include decor recommendations adapted to the respective market, a barcode system for sample recognition and a link to the samples shop on the internet. VDS HD in the versions LIVE (projection on sample furniture with a projector) and MRI (with interactive optical sample recognition) is a high-resolution programme for presentations in showrooms or at the POS played back on a high-definition (HD) touch screen monitor. Various room sets can be interactively loaded from a room library on a 40-inch (102 cm diagonal measurement) screen and high-resolution decors can be applied. Zoom mode allows surface textures such as certain embossing or matt-gloss effects to be visualised down to the details. Both the new Industry Collection and all new ZOW decors are available in VDS HD 3.0, supporting the presentation of decors and the decision-making process during selection.
DECOR AND ROOM VISUALISATION
VDS is part of the comprehensive EGGER digital strategy ranging from decor development and presentation to sampling and the digital production of decors on the company’s own digital printing line. “Since we initially presented our VDS system at the ZOW 2010, we are especially pleased to introduce the first major update this year,” Ulrich Bühler says. VDS has been highly successful for EGGER: “We are pleased that more than 30 customers and partners around the world have acquired VDS in the meantime,” says Ulrich Bühler. “This confirms the great potential that lies in the virtual presentation of various decors in actual room situations.” In addition to VDS HD, EGGER offers two other visualisation systems: the VDS MOBILE app allows all ZOOM and flooring decors to be viewed on the Apple iPad and enlarged to full-size images. In the course of introducing the new ZOOM distributor collection, VDS ONLINE will be available effective March 2012 as a free version for decor visualisation on the internet, along with VDS PROFI, a visualisation software with high-resolution decor and room data and an interface to planning programmes such as ROOMDESIGNER. It is installed on a PC or laptop, and is aimed especially at fabricators for decor consultations with their customers.
VDS RECOGNISED WITH GERMAN DESIGN AWARD IN SILVER
Out of 1,500 entries, EGGER was able to win the German Design Award 2012 with its Virtual Design Studio along with 49 other winners. Sponsored by the Rat für 6 ZOW PRESS FOLDER
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Formgebung / German Design Council, this contest recognises international top achievements that set standards for tomorrow even today. The institution is among the leading global competence centres for communication and the transfer of knowledge in the design sector. New horizons for industry representatives and designers are opened up through competitions, exhibitions, conferences, consulting services, research and publications. With the German Design Award, internationally renowned experts from the two competition disciplines of communication and product design evaluate who is helping to shape the future. They are unified by a common goal: in order for the best to become the standard of tomorrow, special achievements must be recognised today.
EGGER VIRTUAL DESIGN STUDIO (VDS)
VDS first presented at the ZOW 2010 VDS has already been sold to more than New introduction VDS HD 3.0 30 customers and partners around the VDS HD 3.0 offers numerous new world functions VDS is part of the comprehensive Industry Collection is available in EGGER digital strategy VDS HD 3.0 Future versions: VDS ONLINE and VDS PROFI EGGER wins German Design Award 2012 in silver
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DESIGN AND NATURALNESS FORM A NEW SYMBIOSIS “Design goes natural 2” as the expanded motto of the ZOW / EGGERZUM highlights a return to naturalness and is the guiding theme for new decors EGGER continues pursuing the trend to combine natural and modern elements. At the ZOW 2012 in Bad Salzuflen, the Tyrolean wood-based material manufacturer will present its related decor innovations. Here the focus is on the application of decors with a natural appearance. To account for more sophisticated design possibilities, EGGER has grouped its decors into four decor and colour concepts. “For one thing, our motto ‘Design goes natural 2’ highlights the further development away from a focus on authentic types of wood in favour of sophisticated new combination possibilities. For another, unis continue gaining importance,” says Klaus Monhoff, Head of Product Management Decorative EGGER Group. In developing the decors, special emphasis was placed on permitting a variety of design possibilities. “We took the various possibilities of modern furniture design into account, whereby the proportion of unis and wood can vary,” Klaus Monhoff continues. EGGER views the EGGERZUM 2012 decors as a meaningful evolution of the ongoing trend to combine design and nature. Klaus Monhoff is convinced: “Authenticity will remain a powerful guiding principle over the next few years.”
NATURALNESS IS NOW ALSO INTERPRETED ELEGANTLY Not only the decors themselves define the trend towards naturalness, but also their application. “Various combination options, such as uni colours with authentic types of wood, support a wide variety of design versions,” Klaus Monhoff says. This means a cabinet door can either appear rustic, with a high proportion of woodgrain decors, or strikingly elegant with an emphasis on uni colours. “Our decors support these various possibilities. The proportion of naturalness is variable,” Klaus Monhoff says. “This is why we have developed four design and combination concepts in connection with our new decors,” Klaus Monhoff continues. It turns out that the trend topic of “naturalness” is being interpreted and realised in many different forms by the furniture industry.
REDISCOVERING DESIGN POSSIBILITIES The four decor and colour concepts developed by EGGER transport the core concept of “Design goes natural 2”: uni colours, uni colours with texture and woodgrain decors as well as woodgrain decors with uni colours in harmonious contrasts. “The significance of uni colours has grown continuously over the last three years,” says Klaus Monhoff. Initially used mainly as accent colours, they are now used as main decors in all areas of application within the furniture industry. Uni colours that exhibit a highly natural and / or neutral character in their nuances are especially popular right now. White hues tend to be more creamy while grey hues 8 ZOW PRESS FOLDER
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are defined by warmth. On this basis, EGGER in its new collection is presenting a concept of 15 neutral uni colours with a matt, natural surface; these can also be combined with each other. “In addition to the success of uni colours, another trend on the horizon for the coming years is that glossy or matt surfaces alone are no longer sufficient in combination with the uni colours,” Klaus Monhoff is convinced. According to the EGGER decor expert, wood pores or surfaces typical for wood are returning to uni colours on the one hand, presenting an uni hue with the look of a coated wood surface; on the other hand, uni colours exhibit a revitalising effect through modern, graphic surfaces as well as the application of pearlescent colours.
NATURALNESS IN A NEW DIMENSION According to Klaus Monhoff, designs that are defined by nature will continue to play an important role among woodgrain decors in the future. “Among other things, our motto ‘Authentic – Design goes natural’ from last year also brought forth extremely striking and very rustic types of wood,” Klaus Monhoff sums up. “However, wood will also show itself in a moderate form next year,” Klaus Monhoff continues. In addition to versions with knots, wind cracks or a rough cut appearance, these may include striped or planked woods that will be suitable for combinations thanks to a highly defined interplay of colours. In regards to the combination of woodgrain decors and uni colours, the type of combinations could change in the future according to Klaus Monhoff. “No longer will all contrasts be lively; uni colours could also be combined with sophisticated, streaked wood look elements in the future, or the implementation of wood may set accents with only a small proportion. However, the version with woodgrain decors taking centre stage will be retained as well,” says Klaus Monhoff. “But then the design will often be modern and linear, for example with doors as a version with five sections in the modern country home style.”
OAK DECORS REMAIN POPULAR Woodgrain decors include oak decors among others. The topic “oak” remains highly popular and is considered a decor evergreen. Accordingly the decor range was expanded here. With “Barrique Oak Light H9382 ST10”, a natural oak with a few knots that features interesting natural hues is being presented. Innovations among the darker colour variations include the versions “Thermo Oak Brown H9191 ST11” and “Feldberg Oak Brown H9368 ST11”. Feldberg Oak also sets itself apart with its pronounced limed pores. With the new decors, it is possible to highlight the topic of “naturalness” in a variety of ways, combining them in more or less pronounced contrasts.
STONE REPRODUCTIONS AS WORKTOP DECORS Worktops are developing in the direction of very striking, rustic decors on the one hand, which are mainly used in front panels with uni colours, and towards extremely
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reserved versions where combinations with lively front panels are desired. The decor “Light Brown Carbon Oak H9314 ST22” is a distinctive, almost rustic oak with natural features such as knots and characteristic narrow planks. With its lively interplay of colours it is a perfect match for all modern uni colours. “Here it must also be noted that it is no longer possible to strictly separate worktop and front panel decors, which was the case in the past,” Klaus Monhoff is convinced. Numerous woodgrain decors for front panel and carcass applications will also be chosen for worktops going forward, and vice versa. Stone reproductions will therefore increasingly be found in front panel applications. With the decor “Iron F9637 ST70” EGGER presents a reproduction of a metal surface which shows slight signs of wear and is thus perfectly in line with the trend towards used look decors.
EDGING IN DECOR AND TEXTURE COMBINATIONS Thanks to EGGER’s own edging production by Roma Plastik, all EGGERZUM decors are also available with edging in matching colours and textures. This ensures optimum matching with the respective decor in terms of colour, grain, surface and gloss level. Roma Plastik is presenting 37 new decors in decor and texture combinations with EGGER products at the ZOW 2012 in Bad Salzuflen. The edging is available in thicknesses from 0.4 to 3.0 mm (0.016” to 0.12”) and widths from 12 to 100 mm (0.47” to 3.94”). The production process for ABS security edging can be chosen in order to meet the respective customer requirements. Roma Plastik Germany also offers an individual cut-to-size service of calendered material for customers. Various tools are available for sampling, such as the EGGERZUM edging samples. Roma Plastik is also presenting two edging products at the ZOW 2012: ACRIMARC and Roma laser edging. ACRIMARC from the accent edging collection has a raised section (“marc”) in the centre, creating a reflective metallic effect for an elegant design appearance. Roma laser edging permits the subsequent application of a coating to the reverse side (laser coating), applicable to all Roma edging materials. ROMA Plastik GmbH in Germany is located in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, at the heart of the German furniture industry. Sales to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Benelux and Scandinavia are managed from here.
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ZOW / EGGERZUM 2012
Motto “Design goes natural 2” Focus on applications Trend in favour of naturalness Four concepts help with design continues orientation Elegant interpretation of naturalness Oak decors remain popular Edging in decor and texture combinations
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