Insulation and building materials manufacturer Kingspan said today it expects its full year trading profit will increase by 5% to €875m.
In a trading statement, the Co Cavan based firm said its sales in the nine-month period to September 30 came to €6.14 billion, down "a touch" on the same time last year and in the third quarter.
It added that sales pre-currency and acquisitions were down 7% in the year to date and in the third quarter.
But it added that at this point in the year, it was on track to deliver a record full year trading profit, comfortably ahead of 2022.
Kingspan said it was difficult to look too far ahead in this environment.
"Whilst end markets have their obvious challenges the global backlog of orders has remained reasonably stable over the last number of months. As highlighted at our recent Capital Markets Day, the activity pipeline in data technology, EV automotive, and refurbishment activity in general are all notable positives," it stated.
"There is still some way to go in 2023 with the seasonally important fourth quarter remaining and, accordingly, we expect to deliver a record full year trading profit in the region of €875m," it added.
Kingspan said in today's trading update that sales in its Insulated Panels division improved sequentially in the third quarter, down 9%, and by 10% in the first nine months.
It noted that activity in the Americas remained strong overall, while France was "robust", but the UK market had weakened considerably since mid-year with central and eastern Europe stable at sluggish levels of activity.
Sales in its Insulation division for the first nine months of 2023 were down 7% and by 10% in the third quarter, while sales pre-currency and acquisitions were down 8% year to date and by 9% in the third quarter.
Board sales volumes recorded high single digit volume growth in the third quarter, it added.
Kingspan said today that Light, Air + Water sales in the first nine months were down 2% and by 3% in the third quarter. Underlying sales were in line year to date and were down 1% in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, its Roofing + Waterproofing division experienced a "difficult" trading environment so far this year, but Kingspan said the integration of the businesses bought over the last 12 months is progressing fully to plan.
It said a number of commercial initiatives are progressing with Insulation to build an integrated roofing solution.
"We plan to double sales in this division within the next three years and have taken early steps in planning for multi-site US capacity," the company said.
And sales in its Data + Flooring division in the first nine months were up 8% and up by 3% in the third quarter. It noted that data centre activity continues to drive performance with an "extraordinary pipeline of activity" as it looks to the years ahead.
Kingspan shares were lower in Dublin trade today.
