Irish building materials company Kingspan today posted a 21% jump in first half profit and said it still expected a satisfactory outcome for the year despite a changing market environment.
However chief executive Eugene Murtagh said that the timing of their $120 million acquisition of US company Tate Global now looked bad given the rapid downturn in the US economy.
The company, which in May had said the outcome for the first half would be significantly ahead of last year, made pre-tax profits of 38m euros in the six months to June 30 on turnover up 34.9% at 438.3m.
Murtagh said despite the US problems Tate was still right for Kingspan's long term development even there would be limited growth in the business until 2003.
'The business environment in which the group operates has changed in recent months. However, appropriate strategies have been developed to manage this situation, and Kingspan still looks forward to a satisfactory outcome for the year,' the the company said in the results statement.
The company proposed an interim dividend of 1.75 cents, up 29.6% on the same period of last year. Kingspan shares gained five cents in Dublin to close at three euros.
