Kingspan’s share price surged by as much as 19 per cent this morning after the group announced it has paused a €650 million share buyback programme as it looks to “appraise potential opportunities” in its acquisition pipeline and raised its full-year profit guidance.
The Cavan-headquartered insulation giant, which had seen its share price drift in recent weeks after a modest recovery so far this year, reported a trading profit of €487.2 million for the first six months of the year, up 10 per cent and ahead of analysts’ expectations.
The group expects to break €10 billion in revenues for the first time this year, it said in a statement.
Kingspan said the performance was being partially driven its Advnsys advanced building unit, which services the fast-growing data centres sector. The division’s sales increased by 34 per cent, “buoyed by tech sector activity”.
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Chief executive Gene Murtagh said that, across the group, momentum picked up considerably in the second quarter, despite a challenging start to 2026.
“Advnsys, our data infrastructure business, is growing extremely well, whilst our insulated building envelope business, despite market headwinds, also delivered a very strong performance, with sales, profit and order intake all growing,” he said in a statement.
Kingspan also incurred €4.5 million in “exploration costs” related to its plan to offer a 25 per cent stake in Advnsys to investors on the Euronext Amsterdam. The group shelved the plan late last year.
Murtagh told investors on Friday that the initial public offering (IPO) “conversation is over”. Advnsys is “very much a central part of Kingspan”, he said, adding that the group always intended to retain a 75 per cent stake in the business even if the IPO had proceeded.
“There’s one Kingspan. It’s all together. It’s all very tight, and we’re blasting forward,” Murtagh said.
Kingspan said it was pausing the €650 million share buyback scheme it unveiled last year to “preserve dry powder” for deals.
Responding to a question from an analyst, Murtagh said the group, which spent some €750 million on acquisitions last year, has “no intention” of using equity to fund future deals but would not rule it out altogether.
He said the group had headroom of around €1 billion to pursue deals. “We have lots of opportunities that would fit that scope,” Murtagh said.
Earlier this summer, the competition watchdog cleared the way for Kingspan’s takeover of Kilkenny-based Duggan Profiles & Steel Services.
Kingspan agreed to buy the business, a subsidiary of Duggan Steel Group Ltd, in January when it notified the deal to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Neither side revealed any financial information on the transaction. Duggan Steel Group’s last accounts show revenue was €61.8 million in 2024.
Kingspan said on Friday that it has spent €77.7 million on bolt-on acquisitions in the first half of this year. This figure does not include the price it paid for Duggan or Dubai-based artificial intelligence infrastructure design company, Cloud 9, as both deals were completed after the period’s end, according to the report.
