Kingspan profits up 40%

Construction company Kingspan has reported a 40% rise in operating profits in 2005 to €145.1m, up from 103.3m in 2004.

The board is recommending payment of a final dividend of 8.95c per share, an increase of 44% on the 2004 final dividend.

It was a year of acquisition for the company, including the commissioning of a new manufacturing plant in Hungary to make insulated panels in the growing central and eastern European markets.

Kingspan also bought Ireland’s largest timberframe manufacturer Century Homes, as well as ASM in the US, which has consolidated Kingspan’s position for raised access floor solutions in the US.

Other acquisitions were ATC, the leading provider of panels to the UK food storage industry, and the addition of the RCM and Albion water storage and heating businesses to the environmental containers range of products.

During the year, Kingspan grew to employ more than 4,600 people, and now operates in 28 countries worldwide.