Company of the Month August 2017: Kingspan

Revenue growth of 19% made August a month to celebrate for building materials supplier Kingspan and CEO Gene Murtagh, Business & Finance Company of the Month.

The Kingscourt, Co Cavan-headquartered group released its H1 2017 results in August, with revenue up to €1.75bn and trading profit up 6% to €177.8m. Acquisitions accounted for 10% of sales growth and 6% of trading profit growth.

“The first six months of 2017 were strong for Kingspan,” noted CEO Gene Murtagh. “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,” he said.

The group saw its insulated panel business grow by 17%, led by western Europe and the UK, with “tougher, although resilient” performances in North America and eastern Europe. Its insulation board sales grew by 8% for H1. “The pass through of significant and ongoing raw material increases was a key trading theme in the period,” the company noted.

New arrivals

In August the group also announced Ryan Sullivan as its new managing director of Kingspan Insulation for North America, replacing the promoted Alswinn Kieboom. “Ryan is joining the Kingspan Insulation team in North America during an exciting time of business expansion,” said Peter Wilson, global divisional managing director of Kingspan’s insulation division. “His experience will continue to lead the business towards reaching its goals.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to help establish this proven brand in a growing market,” said Sullivan. “I’m passionate about the technology and Kingspan’s commitment to providing high performance, energy efficient solutions for tomorrow’s most advanced buildings and homes.”

Targets met

Earlier this year the group also announced that it beating its energy efficiency targets, having generated at least half its aggregate energy use from renewable resources last year – well ahead in its aim to operate at net zero energy (NZE) by 2020.

“We are very pleased to have exceeded our targets on our path to operating as a Net Zero Energy company by 2020, hitting 57% renewable energy in 2016,” said Murtagh.

“In the five years since launching this initiative we have seen multiple benefits including reductions in costs, less reliance on fossil fuels and demonstrating the business case for our systems and solutions. Without more action from the corporate sector, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise and the impact of global warming will become a bigger threat for future generations.”

The group looks set to achieve its goal having reduced its light and heat costs by over 30%, and decreased its carbon intensity almost fourfold. It generated 32.2 GWh of power last year via solar, wind and biomass – 7.6% of the company’s total energy, up from 6.6 GWh four years previously.

Finally, Kingspan bought in 164.2 GWh of renewable electricity, around six times more than it did in 2011 – the equivalent, it says, of not burning 55m tonnes of coal.