The Co Cavan-based building materials group Kingspan is to spend a further €10 million on expanding its two manufacturing plants in Poland.

The plants are near Poznan and Radom.

This investment, announced yesterday, brings the company's total investment in the central and east European region to €45 million.

Kingspan has four plants in that economy which are primarily focused on manufacturing insulated panels. One plant produces environmental containers.

In a statement, Kingspan said that it expects to employ up to 400 staff in central and eastern Europe when the plants are operating at their full capacity.

The group expects a turnover of between €70 million and €80 million in the region this year.

Over the next three years it expects this will grow to €150 million.

The company said that the planned fresh investment in Poland is designed to meet the growing demand for products in the country as well as the Baltic region and Scandinavia. Kingspan's chief operating officer, Mr Gene Murtagh, said the group will be making further investments in Poland.

"Things have gone exceptionally well for us in Poland over the last six years and we will be making further investments in future." Kingspan is also investing €12 million in the construction of a new facility in Hungary which will be operational next spring.

It will serve the Hungarian and Romanian markets.

It moved into the Czech Republic five years ago and then expanded into Poland.

Kingspan reported a 33 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in the first half of this year to €37.5 million and said it was confident about the outlook for the remainder of the year.