Kingspan grew revenue and profit last year despite ‘bumpy’ conditions

Irish insulation giant Kingspan grew its revenue and trading profit last year despite “bumpy” economic conditions, its full year results show.

The group’s revenue jumped by 28 per cent from €6.5 billion to €8.3 billion, while profit increased by 10 per cent to €833.2 million, up from €754.8 million the year before.

“This was achieved at a time of exceptional inflation and unprecedented disruption in supply chains globally, which was less a feature in the latter part of the year,” the company said.

The performance of individual markets and economies varied significantly, with the Americas, Germany and Australasia the most stable for Kingspan, and much of Europe weaker.

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It noted that “virtually all walks of life” have been and will be further impacted by the prevailing energy cost and availability dynamics. “This has understandably led to broader and growing concerns which may weigh on demand in the year or so ahead,” it said.

The group’s year-end net debt almost doubled from €756.1 million in 2021 to €1.5 billion last year as the group spent €893.4 million on acquisitions and divestments, as well as €113.3 million on the purchase of a financial asset.

The accounts showed the group recorded a non-trading charge of €16.5 million in the year over its net loss on the divestment of its Russian operations. The company’s tax charge for the year was €130.6 million, which was up from €118.4 million.

Acquisitions during the year contributed 9 per cent to sales growth and 8 per cent to trading profit growth.

The group achieved “milestone” earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (ebitda) of €1 billion, which was up from €893.2 million the year before.

Basic earnings per share for the year was 329.5 cent, up from 305.6 cent, representing an increase of 8 per cent.

The board has proposed a final dividend of 23.8 cent, down from 26 cent per ordinary share payable on May 9th to shareholders, giving a total dividend for the year of 49.4 cent, up from 45.9 cent.

“The combination of war in Ukraine, the consequential steep energy and consumer inflation, and an industry overstocked due to supply chain concerns were all factors that weighed on second-half demand and performance,” it said. “It is difficult to look too far ahead in this environment. We anticipate delivering a broadly similar trading profit in the first quarter of 2023 to that of 2022, aided in part by the contribution from acquisitions.”

Chief executive Gene Murtagh said the group recorded “another meaningful year” in its contribution to lowering the carbon dioxide emissions of buildings combined with “record revenue”.

“Notwithstanding ongoing challenges in the global economy, we expect to see a continuation of the structural drive in favour of more sustainable buildings over the longer term,” he said.

Separately, the board of Kingspan announced the appointment of Louise Phelan as an independent non-executive director with effect from April 28th. She was formerly vice-president of global operations EMEA at PayPal. Both Michael Cawley and John Cronin will be retiring from the board on the expiration of their terms of office.