Kingspan Group PLC (LSE:KGP) forecast profits for 2022 “significantly” above last year as it announced robust sales growth for the first nine months of the year.
Full-year trading profit is expected to be in the region of €830mln, well ahead of the €755mln recorded in 2021, the manufacturer of insulation and building envelope solutions said in a trading update.
Sales in the nine month to 30 September 2022 were €6.25bn, up 33% on the same period last year year, with sales growth of 17% in the third quarter. Underlying sales (pre-currency and acquisitions) were up 20% in the year to date and by 9% in the third quarter, it said.
Looking ahead, Kingspan noted a lack of visibility beyond the next few months in the current economic environment.
It said the sharp increases in raw material prices over the last 18 months seem to have peaked, with some key inputs likely to see a fall in price in the final quarter of 2022.
The global backlog of orders has been “reasonably “stable over the past three months, it said, with the activity pipeline in data, technology, electric vehicle (EV) automotive and district heating applications “notable positives”.