Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: SIG’s sales for the first half of 2019 have fallen by 3.8% year-on-year due to a ‘marked deterioration’ in the level of UK construction. Its UK and Ireland like-for-like sales dropped by 12.7% while sales elsewhere in Europe grew by 3.3%.

UK: Superglass’ revenue grew by 34% year-on-year to Euro37.9m in 2018 from Euro27.2m in 2017. Its profit rose by 37% to Euro0.65m. The subsidiary of Russia’s TechnoNicol Group said that it benefitted from increased sales, higher selling prices and operational cost efficiencies.

“Demand for glass wool insulation continues to be very strong both domestically and in export markets, and with the major manufacturing investment we’re making in the Stirling site, Superglass is set to double its production output capabilities and capitalise on the opportunity,” said Theresa McLean, Chief Financial Officer for TechnoNicol UK and Ireland.

UK: SIG’s revenue fell by 1.2% year-on-year to Euro3.11bn in 2018 from Euro3.15bn in 2017. Its profit before tax increased by 8.5% to Euro87.2m from Euro80.4m. The building materials producer blamed ‘challenging’ market conditions but it highlighted its focus on prices and profitability.

Ireland: Kingspan Group sales rose by 18% year-on-year to Euro1.06bn for the first quarter of 2019. It attributed this to ‘strong’ volumes across its key markets. Its insulated panel sales grew by 22% driven by growth in Europe. Its insulation board sales increased by 12% due to growth in Europe.

Belgium: Recticel’s insulation division’s sales rose by 4% year-on-year to Euro62.5m in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro60.1m in the same period in 2018. It said that volume growth had overcome falling sales prices due to falling methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) costs. Polyurethane (PUR) and polyisocyanurate (PIR) have continued to gain market share following MDI shortages in mid-2017.

US: Lower sales and production volumes reduced Owens Corning’s earnings in the first quarter of 2019 although it said higher prices partially compensated for this. The net sales for its insulation business fell by 1% year-on-year to US$591m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$596m in the same period in 2018. Its earnings before interest and taxation dropped by 53% to US$15m from US$32m. The company’s overall sales grew slightly but earnings fell.

Germany: Va-Q-Tec’s revenue grew by 8% year-on-year to Euro50.7m in 2018 from Euro46.9m in 2017. Sales from its Products business, including vacuum insulation panels (VIP) and phase change materials (PCM), increased by 12% to Euro20.1m from Euro18m. However, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 58% to Euro3m from Euro7.2m. It blamed the fall in earnings on a rise in sales from its lower-margin Products business and investment costs in the company generally.

“Even though business trends in 2018 fell short of our expectations, the outlook at the end of the year brightened considerably. We have completed all of our major growth investments, we have achieved important progress with projects for major customers,” said Stefan Döhmen, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Va-Q-Tec.

UK: SIG’s revenue fell by 1.2% year-on-year to Euro3.13bn in 2018 from Euro3.17bn in 2017. Its profit before tax rose by 8.5% to Euro87.8m from Euro80.9m. The group blamed its falling sales on ‘challenging’ market conditions and a focus on profit over sales volumes. It reported a weakening construction market in 2018 and its UK and Ireland sales fell by 10.6%. Despite slowing markets in France and Germany, its mainland Europe sales remained stable in 2018.

“As expected, our transformation strategy began to deliver during the year and we saw significant operational and financial progress in the second half. Despite challenging market conditions and lower revenue in our largest markets, our focus on pricing and profitability over volume, coupled with tighter control over operating costs, has enabled us to grow our gross margins and profit,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Meinie Oldersma.

Belgium: Record earnings from Recticel’s insulation business have lifted the company’s financial performance in 2018. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose by 13.2% year-on-year to Euro38.1m in 2018 from Euro33.7m in 2017. Overall, its adjusted EBIT fell by 4.8% from Euro63.3 from Euro66.5. Sales from its insulation division fell slightly to Euro244m.

“2018 has been a challenging year for Recticel, in a context of very soft European bedding and furniture demand since the spring, and of declining automotive demand in Europe and Asia since the summer. Thanks to the all-time high results of our Insulation division, the company has managed to hold the Adjusted EBITDA (-1.6%) in line with the level of last year,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Olivier Chapelle.

The foam products producer said that it had increased its stake in Turvac, a Slovenian producer of vacuum insulation panels, to 74% from 50% in early 2019. The company operates a plant in Šoštanj.

Ireland: Kingspan’s revenue grew by 19% year-on-year to Euro4.37bn in 2018 from Euro3.67bn in 2017. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 18% to Euro521m from Euro442m. Insulated panels sales rose by 21% to Euro 2.82bn due to good sales in the Americas and Europe. Insulation boards sales grew by 12% to Euro 864m due to the group’s acquisition of Synthesia Insulation in Spain, on-going growth of its Kooltherm product and general market buoyancy.

“2018 was a year of strong growth for Kingspan, with the company delivering revenues of over Euro4bn for the first time. Performance has been robust in most of our major markets, and momentum has improved through the year,” said Gene M Murtagh, chief executive of Kingspan.