(Alliance News) - Kingspan said sales so far in 2022 have surged, and price pressures "appear to have peaked".
The Kingscourt, Ireland-based building materials company said it expects full-year trading profit of EUR830 million, up from 9.9% EUR755 million in 2021.
Sales in the nine months to September 30 jumped 33% to EUR6.25 billion from EUR4.72 billion a year ago. Third-quarter sales alone rose 17%.
Kingspan said: "A feature of the current environment is the lack of visibility beyond the next short period of months. Sentiment is cautious for the most part although not uniformly so. The sharp increases we have seen in raw material prices over the last eighteen months appear to have peaked, at least for now. Certain key inputs are likely to reduce in price in the fourth quarter."
Particularly in Insulated Panels, sales increased by 29% in the first nine months and 13% in the third quarter. It said global sales volumes in the quarter were "expectedly sluggish reflecting the slowdown in order placement flagged mid-year".
Looking ahead, Kingspan said net debt at year-end is expected to be in the region of EUR1.5 billion, reflecting a 2022 development spend in excess of EUR1.2 billion.
In August, Kingspan said revenue rose 42% to EUR4.15 billion for the six months ended on June 30 from EUR2.92 billion a year earlier. Pretax profit surged 30% to EUR387.6 million from EUR297.2 million.
Shares were up 0.8% at EUR51.52 on Monday morning in London.
By Xindi Wei; xindiwei@alliancenews.com
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