A strong performance from its insulation businesses was one of the key factors behind a 34 per cent rise in pretax profits at Kingspan last year.
The Cavan-based company beat market expectations when it reported profits of €88 million, up from €65 million a year earlier. It plans to pay a final dividend of 6.2 cent, bringing its total dividend to 9.6 cent per share, a 33 per cent increase on 2003.
Presenting his first set of results as chief executive, Gene Murtagh Junior said Kingspan was in "good shape" and expected to deliver 18-20 per cent earnings growth again this year.
Although rises in the price of raw materials, principally steel and chemicals, added around €30 million to costs last year, the company was able to pass them on and it hopes to be able to recover cost increases of around €50 million again this year.
The company expects growth in the future to be two-thirds organic and one-third driven by acquisitions.
Last month, Kingspan paid €22 million for Wakefield-based RCM, which makes unvented cylinders. The purchase, which is expected to contribute €30 million to sales and €3.5 million to operating profits this year, should underpin the position of the company's environmental containers division.
Meanwhile, Kingspan remains on the lookout for further acquisition in the €10-€80 million range across all its divisions.
Mr Murtagh said yesterday that it could spend up to €220-€230 million without stretching its balance sheet.
In addition to its core markets of Ireland and Britain, the company is on the lookout for acquisitions in central and eastern Europe and is not averse to buying in Canada or the US again, despite its bad experience with Tate.
"We have not blacklisted that market," Mr Murtagh said.
Shares in the company rose by more than 3 per cent to €8.84 yesterday as analysts set about upgrading their forecasts.
Of last year, Kingspan said trading conditions in all of its geographic markets proved considerably more stable than in recent times.
"Strong progress was made in all major divisions, assisted by the resumption of growth in our raised access floors business," chairman Eugene Murtagh Senior said.
Following a number of difficult years in this business, sales rose by 3 per cent to €119 million last year, or 12 per cent of the total. A good performance from US flooring business Tate, which turned in a profit of around €3 million, helped offset a 15 per cent decline in UK sales.
But Kingspan's insulated panels and insulation boards divisions proved the real drivers of growth with sales growing by 30 per cent to €380 million and 28 per cent to €199 million respectively.
The company's structural and off-site business also had a good year, posting a 28 per cent increase in sales to €116.8 million.
Its environmental containers division accounted for 15 per cent of turnover as sales rose by 11 per cent to €142.5 million.
Net debt at year end stood at €107.6 million.
