Austria´s Greiner Group (Kremsmünster; www.greiner.at), including Greiner Holding and Greiner Bio-One International, has reported "purely organic" sales growth of 8.4% for 2005 against 2004 to EUR 819m. The family-managed plastics group has thus managed to stay on what has become its traditional "growth track." Over the past 20 years it has expanded consistently. In 1985, overall sales – calculated at the time in Austrian schillings – amounted to just EUR 34m.

Despite high feedstock and energy prices, the plastics group with a broad portfolio again achieved a "solid group result" in 2005, management said – as usual without breaking down figures. This success is attributed to the strategic cornerstones of diversification and innovation.

Greiner Packaging (www.greiner-gpi.com) remained the largest segment last year. The packaging subsidiary reported sales of EUR 235m (EUR 202m in 2004). The laboratory technology company Greiner Bio-One (www.greiner-bio-one.com) was the group´s second largest unit, with EUR 203m (EUR 184m) in sales. Eurofoam (Vienna / Austria; www.euro-foam.com), the polyurethane foam joint venture with Recticel (Brussels / Belgium; www.recticel.com), contributed EUR 170m (EUR 150m).

Turnover of Greiner Extrusionstechnik (Nußbach / Austria; www.greiner-extrusion.at), which is dependent on the cyclical machinery manufacturing industry, fell back slightly to EUR 105m (EUR 117m). After reporting flat sales for 2004, automotive insulation specialist Greiner Perfoam (Enns / Austria; www.greiner-perfoam.com) made progress again, posting sales of EUR 63m (EUR 58m). Greiner Purtec (Schwanenstadt / Austria; www.purtec.at) and Greiner Rubbertec (Nürtingen / Germany; www.greiner-rubbertec.de) turned in steady results of EUR 34m and EUR 9m respectively.

Little changed last year in the geographical split of the businesses. The largest share of the portfolio, 39%, is manufactured in Austria, 18% in Germany and 26% in the rest of the EU. The remaining 17% of production is split among various other countries. About 83% of sales are generated in the EU. At present, Greiner has more than 106 sites – including 88 production sites and 18 marketing locations – in 26 countries. Total employment in the group increased by 5.3% in 2005 to 6,466 people.

In 2006, Greiner again expects sales growth of around 10%. The plan is for the growth to be shared across all segments. As usual, the group claims to be right on target thus far.