Kingscourt, Ireland — Kingspan, the large PU and PIR insulation manufacturer, recorded sales of EUR2.1bn in the first half of 2020. This is a fall of 7.6% compared with 2019.
Trading profit across the business fell by 13.0% to EUR200m. In the same period in the previous year, the figure was EUR230m.
Gene Murtagh: 2021 starting well but raw material costs are high
CEO Gene Murtagh described his company's performance as robust, with a deep reduction in activity in April and May. '[This was] partly offset by a strong recovery towards the end of the year, he said. 'Cost discipline helped us to deliver a small increase in trading profit despite the decline in revenue.'
Sales in the company's insulated panels business fell by 3.8% between 2019 and 2020, at EUR2.9bn in the 2020 period. Trading profit across in the division rose by 1.6% to EUR321.3m in 2020.
'Most of our market continued to recover well in the aftermath of the first severe lockdown early in the year. German, Belgium and France were standouts,' the company said. Kingspan added that it managed to grow its market share. Performance was less good in Spain, and business declined in the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe. The UK and Ireland were behind in revenue terms, but 2021 order books are ahead of 2020.
Once again, in the Americas order books going into 2021 were in a strong position, despite lower overall sales in 2020. Its Canadian sales were weak, but Latin American sales were ahead, and supported by the company's new facility in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A second facility in the south of Brazil is nearing completion.
Although second half performance in the company's insulation boards business was strong, overall it fell 10.3% between 2019 and 2020. They reached EUR787m in the 2020 period.
Western Europe had a 'record' year, with revenue well ahead in Benelux and Germany, the company said, while it was below the previous year in southern Europe. The performance of the business in North America and Australasia was ahead of 2019, but it was down in the Middle East.
Trading profit across in the division fell by 6.0% o reached EUR 110.1m in 2020.
Taking the company as a whole, Murtagh said that 2021 has started well. 'Performance [has been] helped by the strong backlog of activity from last year,' he said. 'Raw material price inflation is a significant ongoing issue to manage, but sentiment across our end markets is positive.'
