KINGSPAN COULD be in a position to complete a further large-scale acquisition early next year, according to the company’s chief executive Gene Murtagh.

Speaking after the insulation group’s annual general meeting (agm) in Dublin yesterday, Mr Murtagh said Kingspan was continuing to look for opportunities to expand through acquisition.

However, he added it would be unlikely to make such a purchase in 2011. “We are more likely to tee one up for early next year,” he said.

Two months ago it emerged that Belgian operator Recticel had turned down a €240 million offer from the Irish group.

Mr Murtagh pointed out that while the deal did not go through, it gave an indication of the type of acquisition that the group was capable of doing.

In a statement issued ahead of the meeting yesterday, the group said sales in the first four months of this year were €439.3 million, 33 per cent ahead of the same period in 2010.

After adjusting for the impact of the €120 million purchase of CRH’s European insulation business, which the group completed in the early part of the year, sales were up 20 per cent and 12 per cent of this represented volume growth.

Operating margins remained steady, reflecting increases in prices for raw materials such as steel and chemicals. Mr Murtagh said afterwards the group has been passing these increases on to its customers.

Around 30 per cent of Kingspan’s business now comes from refitting buildings to make them more energy efficient.

Net debt at the end of April was €248 million, an increase of €119.6 million over the same period in 2010. This was largely down to the impact of the CRH acquisition.

Mr Murtagh said Kingspan was making good progress with integrating this purchase into the group. It plans to sell around 40per cent of what it bought and absorb the rest into the group.

CRH operated the businesses involved as separate companies, but Kingspan intends to run them as a single entity. This was going to require significant restructuring, according to Mr Murtagh.

He said yesterday that the group was taking this process in its stride.

This week, the group opened proceedings against a supplier, Borealis, in the British courts. Kingspan claims plastic components supplied to it to manufacture water and oil tanks were not fit for purpose.

The Irish group has had to replace the faulty tanks, but has already absorbed the €25 million cost involved in this process.