Building materials group Kingspan has reported a "good" first quarter despite a tough start to the year due to harsh winter conditions in Continental Europe and much of the US.
In a trading update issued ahead of its AGM today, the Co Cavan-based company said that group sales of €2.1 billion for the three‐month period to 31 March were up 3% on a pre-currency basis.
Order intake activity was strong across the business which augurs well for the rest of the year and beyond, it added.
It said it expects to deliver a full year group trading profit in the region of €1.05 billion.
Kingspan said its ADVNSYS business had a strong start to the year with sales up 28% pre-currency on the first quarter of 2025, with the pace of sales growth expected to ramp further in the months ahead.
"The pipeline of global data centre opportunities is extraordinary, and growing, as AI applications advance at pace," Kingspan said.
Its new 800,000 sq. ft facility in Kentucky will come fully on stream in the summer as planned, followed by new facilities in Texas, a second in Arkansas, and significant footprint expansion in both Vietnam and Australia.
In January, Kingspan said it had decided to drop plans for an initial public offering of the ADVNSYS business and will continue to report the unit as a wholly-owned segment.
Kingspan said overall sales at its Insulated Building Envelopes were 2% behind pre-currency on the first quarter of 2025.
Insulated Panels sales were in line overall pre-currency with strong order intake year to date, up significantly on the same period last year, it added.
Year on year growth in the global panels backlog has progressed further since the end of 2025, with a "modest" element of order pull forward evident and clear outperformance relative to underlying markets.
But it noted that general insulation activity was sluggish, partially mitigated by continued good activity in acoustic solutions and ramping activity for technical insulation as energy cost and availability come into sharper focus.
Meanwhile, Roofing + Waterproofing sales grew in the first quarter with healthy backlogs in Europe for the next quarter.
Kingspan said its world scale roofing facilities under development in the US (Oklahoma and Maryland) are fully on track to be in production by the end of the year, followed by a third facility in Utah in early 2028.
The company said its trading outlook, as it moves through the early part of the second quarter, is in good shape overall with the inflation recovery effort underway.
"The group's acquisition pipeline remains strong, including scale opportunities that further advance our tech offering and converging solutions. We expect to deliver a full year group trading profit in the region of €1.05 billion," it added.
