Shares in insulation and building materials manufacturer Kingspan soared over 14% today after it reported record profits and revenues for 2024 despite “tough” end markets.
Co Cavan-based Kingspan said its profit after tax for the year to the end of December rose by 6% to €691m from €654m in 2023, while its revenues for the year also increased by 6% to €8.608 billion from €8.091 billion.
Kingspan said its earnings per share were up 4% to 365.2 cent from 352.3 cent in 2023.
The company has proposed a final dividend per share of 28.5 cent, up 7% on 2023’s final dividend of 26.6 cent. This gives it a total dividend for the year of 54.8 cent, up from 52.9 cent in 2023.
Today’s results show that the company’s insulation and insulated panels remain by far its biggest earners, though its data centre solutions business was its fastest growing division last year.
Gene Murtagh, Kingspan’s chief executive, said the company delivered record revenue and profitability despite tough end markets and finished the year with good momentum and a notable bounce in the second half.
“Despite market gyrations, we continue to invest for the longer term and deployed €1.2 billion of new capital on acquisitions and development activity, including a 51% controlling stake in Steico,” he said.
He said that innovation remained a key driver of growth in 2024 which saw its market entry to the burgeoning natural insulation and acoustic insulation categories, the imminent launch of its PowerPanel insulated PV roofing system and continuing progress in its liquid cooling solutions for the fast growing data segment.
“2024 was also a breakthrough year for our Roofing + Waterproofing platform, doubling profitability, expanding margins and gaining an important and growing foothold in the US,” the CEO noted.
“As we look to 2025, our order backlogs are healthy, and our development expenditure has sown the seeds for future growth whilst maintaining almost €2 billion in operational and development headroom. 2025 will inevitably bring challenges but we remain upbeat for the year ahead supported by structural demand for energy efficient solutions for the built environment,” Mr Murtagh added.
Looking ahead, Kingspan said 2025 will inevitably offer up its fair share of challenges, but added that it is excited for the year ahead.
“The structural demand for an energy efficient built environment continues to advance around the world. We are uniquely placed to harness that with the breadth of our offering, our Planet Passionate agenda and our strong balance sheet,” the company said.
“Our order backlogs are healthy in general and are soaring in the data and artificial intelligence arena. This gives us confidence that 2025 will be another year of progress at Kingspan,” it added.
Kingspan said turnover in its Insulated Panels division rose by 19% to €1.824 billion from €1.528 billion, while the division’s trading profits were up 2% to €147.8m from €145.1m on the back of an encouraging performance in North America, particularly in the US but also in Canada and Mexico.
It said its European markets were more subdued in general with volume growth in France, and more recently in Germany, compensating for weaker performances in the Nordics and Iberia, while Ireland delivered a strong performance. It added that while the UK was softer, recent order intake and pipeline bode very well for this year.
The company also said it experienced an improved performance in the Middle East and while Australia disappointed, the company expects its new mineral fibre panel plant near Sydney will drive growth in 2025. During the year it started manufacturing operations in New Zealand, Vietnam and Thailand all of which are exciting prospects for the years ahead, it added.
Revenues at its Insulation business rose by 19% to €1.824 billion from €1.528 billion in 2023, while trading profits rose by 2% to €147.8m from €145.1m after what Kingspan called “a testing and transformative year”.
It said that many European markets were under pressure coinciding with cost-driven price deflation and some tapering off in the district heating category, but added that it anticipates a performance improvement across the rigid board operations this year, now less than 30% of sales in the division, with the prospect of some pickup in residential activity.
But in contrast, it said its acoustics and interiors insulation activities had an excellent year. With momentum continuing to improve, and recent market entry into the US, it is aiming to deliver further growth in this business.
Kingspan said its first year with Steico, the world’s largest natural insulation producer has been encouraging, while commissioning of the most advanced plant in the industry in Gromadka in Poland is progressing well and should support further growth in the year ahead.
After a year of “significant and exciting transition”, Kingspan said that turnover in its Data Solutions business climbed by 36% to €516.2m from €379.7m and trading profits soared by 52% to €77.9m from €51.2m.
It said this requires further rapid capacity expansion and, in addition to the recently opened Virginia plant, an even larger facility will be added in Arkansas this year.
In Europe, the demand patterns are similar and will drive output growth for its facilities in Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Kingspan also said it plans to establish production capacity in Southeast Asia, supporting the manufacturing presence it has in Sydney, Australia.
Meanwhile, revenue at its Light, Air + Water division slipped by 1% to €961.1m from €967.4 and trading profits edged 1% higher to €79.7m from €78.7m after the year focused on consolidation after several years of acquisition-led growth.
Kingspan said the business is largely concentrated in Europe for the time being, markets which naturally presented challenges last year.
Turnover at its Roofing + Waterproofing division grew by 15% to reach €568.5m from €493.4m in 2023, while trading profits soared by 99% to €55.9m from €28.1m. It said this growing platform gained a foothold in the US with new site acquisitions as well as bolting on IB Roof Systems to provide a complementary front-end in this key region.
The performance of the flat roofing membrane business was a key driver of the result, as was an improvement in underlayment activity.
Kingspan said that during the year it increased its ownership position in the Swedish quoted Nordic Waterproofing to 87.4%
Kingspan shares were higher in Dublin trade today.
