Kingspan, the building materials group, is confident this year's operating profit and earnings per share will be well ahead of 2005, its chairman said yesterday.

Eugene Murtagh, speaking at its annual general meeting, said the firm's year-to-date performance had been strong. "In general, the group's core markets are quite robust and are anticipated to remain so for the foreseeable future".

"Against this backdrop, the board is confident that operating profit and earnings per share will be well ahead of 2005 and, barring unexpected circumstances, should exceed current market expectations for the year as a whole," he added.

One shareholder wanted to know why there appeared to be an expanding deficit in the company's various pension schemes.

Dermot Mulvihill, group finance director, said the schemes were mainly legacy schemes that came to the company when it made acquisitions. He said they were closed to new members and the only reason there was a small increase was because of changing actuarial assessments.

Speaking after the meeting Gene Murtagh, chief executive, said the company was operating in were very healthy markets. While oil prices were high, it had had limited impact on the company, as energy only made up 1 per cent of its input costs. He said the company was looking at a UK acquisition worth about €85 million, but it had "some distance to go with it".

Mr Murtagh said the company had a €500 million funding capability, but it would not spend this in one year. One of the biggest factors favouring the company was increased emphasis on energy conservation in homes. He said all homes would need to produce an energy rating in future showing how much it cost to heat a home and this would drive demand for products such as insulation.