Kingspan first-half revenues soar 39 per cent to €1.2bn

Kingspan chief executive, Gene Murtagh, believes that the Republic's building industry will continue growing over "the next few years".

Revenues at the insulation and construction materials manufacturer rose 39 per cent to €1.2 billion in the first half of the year, figures released by the group on Monday show.

Trading profit for the first six months of the year rose 61 per cent from €69.2 million to €111.7 million, while net debt more than trebled from €113 million to €449 million.

Its Irish business accounts for around 3 per cent of the total, but speaking after the results’ publication, Mr Murtagh said Kingspan was very positive about its prospects.

“The Irish market has been recovering sustainably,” he said. “With current demand for housing I would be very encouraged that the next few years are going to see strong growth.”

The group has businesses in Europe, North America and Australia, but no direct exposure to China, although it does buy some components from suppliers based there.

Mr Murtagh said that it might see a “potential small knock-on effect” from the crisis there on its Australian operations, where some of its customers supply minerals and resources to the Chinese market. “But it is not something that I would be alarmed about,” he added.

Kingspan reported a 59 per cent increase in basic earnings per share to 46.5 cent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) rose 55 per cent from €88.9 million in the first half of last year to €137.9 million this year.

The group said insulated panels revenue increased 43 per cent to €753 million, as a result of solid organic growth in key markets. Insulation boards revenue jumped 44 per cent to €319 million, largely driven by the Pactiv and PAL acquisitions late in 2014.

Kingspan chief executive Gene Murtagh said the first half of 2015 has been “a record period” for the company which resulted in trading profit growth of 61 per cent to €111.7 million.

"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."

The acquisition of Belgium based manufacturer Joris Ide and Canadian based manufacturer Vicwest contributed 26 per cent to sales growth and 31 per cent to trading profit growth in the period.

With reduced levels of economic uncertainty in Continental Europe, and improving levels of building activity in the UK and US, he said Kingspan is optimistic about the outlook for the full year.