Insulation products group predicting a 15% annual operating profit increase
Insulation specialist Kingspan said it expects to deliver a 15% hike in operating profit for 2018 despite economic concerns and little sign of a deal with the EU over Brexit.
The Irish firm, which generates a quarter of its revenues from the UK and operates in 60 countries around the world, said its end markets remained 鈥渞easonably stable鈥�, despite global jitters.
It expected to report an operating profit of around 鈧�440m (拢384m) for the year ended 31 December 2018 and forecast net debt for the year would be around 鈧�750m (拢655m), up 62%.
Back in August Kingspan had reported tougher trading and didn鈥檛 expected this to change 鈥渦ntil clarity emerges from the ongoing negotiations with the EU.鈥�
In a trading update issued today the firm said UK sales of its insulation panels had improved in the third quarter but activity on medium and smaller-sized projects remained subdued, while insulation board sales in the UK had become more competitive.
Turnover in the nine-month period to 30 September rose by 鈧�3.18bn (拢2.8bn), up 18% year-on-year.
Last year the group reported turnover of 鈧�3.7bn (拢3.2bn) and a pre-tax profit of 鈧�346.5m (拢302m).
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