24th Aug 2015 07:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish building materials company Kingspan Group PLC on Monday posted a robust set of results for the first half of the year, with strong underlying trading burnished by a translation boost from the weak euro.
Kingspan said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June surged up to EUR100.4 million from EUR60.0 million a year earlier. Trading profit for the company increased by 61% in the half to EUR111.7 million, but while this was given a significant leg-up by the weak euro and the translation effects thereof, its trading profit in constant currency was still up by 44%.
On the back of the results, the group said it would hike its interim dividend by 28% to 8.0 euro cents per share.
Revenue for the company rose by 39% to EUR1.24 billion from EUR889.3 million, with underlying trading once more robust and constant currency revenue up by 29%. Kingspan said its insulted panel revenue was up by 43% in the half, driven by strong organic growth in key markets along with boosts from the Joris Ide and Vicwest acquisitions.
Insulation boards revenue rose by 44%, driven by the acquisitions of Pactiv and PAL late in 2014 but also by robust underlying sales growth in the UK and Western Europe. Environmental sales were slightly ahead year-on-year, the group said, while profits from the division recovered significantly, while access floors revenue was up overall by 22%, as a solid North American performance offset some softness in Europe.
Kingspan is planning capacity expansion and plant upgrades in its operations in Belgium, France, the Nordic region, the UAE, Mexico, the US, Australia and Russia, with all of these changes set to come on stream progressively between now and 2020.
"Kingspan has had an exceptionally strong start to the year, underpinned by solid organic growth. Good progress has also been made with the integration of the Joris Ide and Vicwest businesses acquired during the period, both of which contribute significantly to the global evolution of Kingspan. With reduced levels of economic uncertainty in Continental Europe, and improving levels of building activity in the UK and US, we are optimistic about the outlook for the full year," said Gene Murtagh, Kingspan's chief executive.
Shares in Kingspan were down 0.7% to EUR21.225 in early trade.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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