KGP.L Regulatory News (KGP)

18 Dec 2007 07:01

Kingspan Group PLC18 December 2007 Kingspan Group PlcTRADING UPDATE 18th December 2007 Kingspan Group plc, the leading manufacturer of a range of sustainable productsfor the construction industry, is pleased to announce that trading for the first11 months of the year has shown strong growth over the same period in 2006. Forthe full year 2007, the Group anticipates growth in operating profits ofapproximately 22% over the €194mn achieved in 2006. Overall, Insulated Panels continued to perform well in the second half, with nonresidential activity levels remaining high in all markets, although momentum hastempered slightly towards the close of the year. UK, Ireland and Central Europehave all performed well ahead of prior year, whilst Canada and Australia bothmade good progress. Momentum in Insulation Boards has increased in the second half of the year inthe UK and Mainland Europe, whilst in Ireland it is only slightly down in thesecond half after a very robust first half. Trading in the Offsite and theEnvironmental & Renewables businesses remained difficult in the second half,owing largely to a slower residential market in Ireland and warranty relatedcosts in fuel storage products. The Offsite business in the UK however, hasprogressed well throughout the year with like for like order intake upsignificantly. Access Floors is performing at record levels of profitability in both NorthAmerica and Europe and this pattern seems set to continue at least into thefirst half of 2008. Capital expenditure for the year as a whole will be around €150mn which is alarge part of a two year programme to considerably increase capacity around theGroup. During the year a new Phenolic Insulation line in Ireland and a newInsulated Panel line in Turkey were commissioned and a start has been made onsix other major projects throughout the business, which will be commissionedover the course of 2008 and early 2009. Net debt for year end 2007 is expectedto be in the order of €250mn. Heading into 2008, the construction environment in the UK, Ireland and WesternEurope is more challenging than in recent times, whilst Central Europegenerally, and the North American non-residential sector continue to performwell. The Group's order bank and project pipe-line would indicate that phasingof activity will vary from that of the current year owing, in the main, to anuncharacteristically strong start to 2007, a pattern not envisaged to berepeated in the year ahead. Present market conditions leave it difficult toguide for the coming year. However, the international momentum on climatechange combined with the Group's proven model of continued conversion fromtraditional towards low energy construction solutions should lead to a year ofmid-single digit growth in earnings at Kingspan. Kingspan's preliminary results for the year ending 31st December 2007 will beissued on March 3rd 2008. For further information contact:Murray Consultants +353 (0)1 4980300James DunnyBuchanan Communications +44 (0)20 7466 5000Tim Thompson/Jeremy Garcia This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange