Murtagh sells €6m of Kingspan stake

KINGSPAN co-founder Brendan Murtagh has sold part of his stake in the Cavan-based building materials firm for €6 million.

Mr Murtagh exercised 714,689 share options in the company. The options cost Mr Murtagh just over €2.2m, meaning he netted a profit on the share sale (at €8.50 a share) of nearly €4m.

According to a filing with the Irish Stock Exchange, Mr Murtagh retains a stake of 2.99% in Kingspan, worth about €45m.

Mr Murtagh, 62, co-founded the company in 1974 with his brother Eugene, and is currently Kingspan’s head of corporate development.

Over the last few years Mr Murtagh has gradually reduced his stake in the firm. Last July, he cashed in shares worth €90m and in September 2005 he sold shares for €50m.

The share price of Kingspan has been under pressure for the past 12 months. When Mr Murtagh sold shares last July they were trading at more than €20 each.

The company warned investors last month that if market conditions persist, it was likely to result in the group’s earnings performance being “appreciably behind” the 2007 outcome.

Outside of Kingspan, Mr Murtagh is involved in Cork property development firm Howard Holdings and is also a significant shareholder in Smart Telecom, which he rescued from near collapse in 2006.