Friday, 19 August 2022 | 17.7°C Dublin
Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan
Revenues at insulation maker Kingspan rose 42pc to a record €4.2bn in the half-year to June as higher prices and acquisitions delivered a bonus for shareholders.
T he firm announced it has appointed former CRH and Bank of Ireland executive Senan Murphy as an independent non-executive director. Mr Murphy, who does not hold any Kingspan shares, has previously held senior positions in Ulster Bank, Airtricity and GE.
Rising sales of insulation panels, insulation and district heating, as well as a move into the waterproofing and ‘natural’ insulation market, drove the stellar results.
In its half-yearly results on Friday, the Cavan-headquartered firm said it passed on “an unprecedented level of raw material increases received during 2021”.
Trading profit was up 32pc to €434.2m, while earnings before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation, amortisation and non-trading items rose 30pc to €512.2m.
It led to basic earnings per share rising 29pc to 170.6 cents.
Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 25.6 cents, also up 29pc and in line with policy guidance.
Sales of insulated panels were up 39pc, with insulation sales up by 69pc due to higher prices and acquisitions.
A new roofing and waterproofing business division - with an expected annualised revenue run rate of more than €500m - helped to drive the firm’s upbeat assessment.
Kingspan acquired Belgium’s Derbigum in June and cleared the purchase of global waterproofing firm Ondura Group in August, while it took a minority stake of 24pc in Nordic Waterproofing the same month.
It also acquired Danish natural acoustic insulation maker Troldtekt.
Kingspan entered the district heating market last year, with full-year 2022 order intake is expected to be 50pc up on 2021.
A total of €522m was invested in new businesses and capex in the first six months of the year.
Kingspan also plans organic growth over the next five years, with 25 new production lines and a €200m Building Technology Campus in Ukraine.
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However, Kingspan said that while deliveries across most of the business were “solid” in the six months to June, “the opposite was the case on inbound orders”.
“Despite a challenging trading environment Kingspan delivered record half year results, with revenues over €4bn for the first time,” said Kingspan chief executive Gene Murtagh. "We have been able to navigate large input cost increases with only modest margin impact.
“Looking forwards, we retain the outlook flagged in our June trading update but are confident in the long term demand for the energy efficient solutions we deliver.
“Whilst inflationary pressures have eased in recent months, the context of energy supply constraints over the winter months in Europe will be something we will be closely monitoring.”
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