Global insulation company Kingspan (LON:KGP) reported an encouraging rise in revenue on Friday, sending shares up over 6 percent.
Revenue at the company, who provide high performance insulation and building envelope products, rose 19 percent to 1.75 billion euros. This led trading profit to rise 6 percent to 177.8 million euros, boosted by the company’s acquisitions over the period.
Basic EPS rose 5 percent to 74.4 cent, up from 70.6 cents in the first half of 2016. The best performance came from its insulated panel business, which saw a sales growth of 17 ercent after improvements in Western Europe and solid activity in the UK.
Gene Murtagh, Chief Executive of Kingspan commented:
“The first six months of 2017 were strong for Kingspan. We expect end market activity to be broadly positive for the remainder of the year and at current exchange rates to deliver a full-year result at least in line with consensus. Whilst margins contracted somewhat, we anticipate further recovery of input increases in the second half. Our balance sheet is strong and ready to support our development agenda as the opportunities unfold.”
Its other divisions also saw a positive performance, with a “strong start” for its Light & Air arm with sales amounting to 87.1 million euros. Environmental continued to “progress positively overall”, while Access Floors is ahead in the UK, albeit with a softer pipeline towards the year-end, with subdued activity in North America.
Shares in Kingspan Group are currently trading up 5.39 percent at 30.43 (0947GMT).