24th Aug 2018 08:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kingspan Group PLC on Friday posted an increase in profit for the first half of the year as a result of particularly strong revenue growth in North America and Germany during its second quarter.
In the six months to June 30, the insulation company recorded a pretax profit rise of 8.8% to EUR177.6 million from EUR163.3 million. This was led by a 15% revenue jump to EUR2.01 billion from EUR1.75 billion.
"Following a slow start to the year hampered by a prolonged winter, momentum improved notably in the second quarter in which revenue was ahead by 21%...The improvement was particularly evident in North America and Germany," said Kingspan.
Revenue from the company's Insulated Panels business grew 14% year to year while Insulation Boards was ahead by 15%. Sales in the company's Light & Air business were up 57% while Water & Energy was in line with 2017. Access Floors revenue dropped 7% to EUR87.2 million from EUR93.3 million.
The company declared a 12.0 cent per share dividend for the period, up 9.1% from 11.0 cents the year before.
"We delivered a record performance in the first half of the year, with revenue over EUR2 billion for the first time. Performance was helped by improved momentum in the second quarter after a sluggish start to the year due to prolonged winter weather conditions," said Kingspan Chief Executive Gene Murtagh.
"This momentum has continued into the second half in a number of key markets, and underpins our encouraging outlook for the rest of the year. Kingspan's geographical footprint continues to expand, with development activity in Latin America, Southern Europe and India opening up exciting growth opportunities," Murtagh added.
Shares in Kingspan were up 6.1% at EUR41.78 on Friday morning.
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