Dec 22, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. Egger Group has posted a 5% growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of Euro 127 million for the six months ended October 31, as TTJ reported. Group sales rose 12% to Euro 975 million, while the profit margin fell slightly to 13% due to cost increases, particularly for raw materials which could not be fully passed on. Sales of decorative wood panels increased 18% to Euro 776 million, with furniture and interior design business growing in nearly all regions. Egger’s new building products division, comprising lumber and OSB, expanded during the period to make up 8% (Euro 82 million) of total group sales. “With the commissioning of the new OSB plant in Radauti, Romania in early 2012, the importance of structural wood products within the group will continue to increase,” Egger said. Egger’s retail products division, which focuses on flooring, recorded a 4% sales growth to Euro 169 million, or 17% of total sales. “The utilisation of the laminate flooring industry as a whole is still not satisfactory and is characterised by high excess capacity.”