Strong performances across all its divisions boosted 2006 profits at building materials and systems specialist, Kingspan, by 37 per cent to €185 million.
The Dublin and London-listed company yesterday reported that turnover in 2006 grew 18 per cent on the previous year to €1.46 billion from €1.24 billion.
Operating profits at the Cavan-based group grew 34 per cent year-on-year to €194 million from €145 million. Profits before tax increased by 37 per cent to €185.2 million in 2006 from €135 million 12 months earlier.
Earnings per share (EPS) grew 35 per cent to 89.8 cent from 66.4 cent. The board is proposing to pay a dividend for the year of 19 cent. During the year, the company spent €167 million on acquisitions and capital investment. It said that €107 million of that was on small to medium-sized businesses across all its markets.
Kingspan has been steadily growing its presence in central and eastern Europe, and also has a foothold in north America with an operation in Canada, as well as Australia.
Chief executive Gene Murtagh told The Irish Times yesterday that the company has the capacity to spend up to €500 million on acquisitions, but made it clear that it wanted to spend this money on strategic businesses.
"The critical thing for us is that we can get the strategic ones we come across," he said. "They might not come up every year, but if a couple of them came up this year, we could do it."
Mr Murtagh explained that this policy means that there will be years where the company's spend on acquisitions will be lower than others. He said Kingspan is concentrating on moving into markets where the penetration of its insulation products is low, and thus have the most capacity for growth.
"We want to get in there now and get first-mover advantage," he said. These markets include central and Eastern Europe and north America.
Kingspan's products include insulation panels and boards, raised access floors and environmental systems, including waste water treatment and fuel storage and containment.
New building specifications introduced by local authorities in Dublin, aimed at increasing the level of insulation installed in new homes over the standards laid down nationally, have the potential to boost Kingspan's business.
The authorities' moves are designed to cut carbon emissions. Similarly, the UK government's target of ensuring that there are zero carbon emissions from all new homes by 2016, has the potential to have a similar impact.
Mr Murtagh said that Kingspan was concentrating on developing technology needed for these improvements. The strong results did not stop Kingspan's share price falling to €19.20, having opened at €20.60.
