Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Ireland: Sales in insulated panels have driven increases in sales revenue and earnings at Kingspan. Its revenue rose by 19% year-on-year to Euro1.75bn in the first half of 2017 from Euro1.47bn in the same period in 2016. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 6% to Euro209m from Euro197m. It attributed its growth to increasing demand for energy efficiency in Western Europe.

“The first six months of 2017 were strong for Kingspan,” said Gene Murtagh, chief executive of Kingspan. “We expect end market activity to be broadly positive for the remainder of the year and at current exchange rates to deliver a full-year result at least in line with consensus. While margins contracted somewhat, we anticipate further recovery of input increases in the second half. Our balance sheet is strong and ready to support our development agenda as the opportunities unfold.”

By region the group says it performed well in Western Europe, including the UK, as well as the US, Scandinavia and Australia. However, it reported problems in Central Europe and the Middle East.

US/Canada: Johns Manville (JM) has launched JM CladStone Water & Fire Block Insulation in the US and Canada. The mineral wool product is for use in cavity wall and rain screen applications. JM says that the product allows for the drainage of water from an exterior wall cavity system.

“We are committed to providing our customers with an array of products to meet the needs of any project, and that’s why we’re introducing JM CladStone Water & Fire Block Insulation, a non-combustible product designed to aid in managing moisture in continuous insulation systems,” said Tommy Knappich, Vice President and General Manager of Building Insulation at JM.

Spain: Spanish insulation firm URSA is to be sold by investment firm KKR to Germany’s Xella International GmbH. The sale is subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities and is expected to be closed by the end of 2017. No value for the deal has been disclosed to date.

“We are looking forward to becoming part of the Xella Group,” said URSA CEO Pepyn Dindant. “Xella is a very successful company in the building materials industry and deeply understands our markets, customer needs and products. This will give us important impulses for our profitable growth strategy that we will keep on implementing with high priority and strong client focus.”

“Especially in recent years, URSA has delivered outstanding performance,” said Dr Jochen Fabritus, CEO of Xella Group. “We highly appreciate what URSA’s executives and employees have achieved and are looking forward to welcoming them as part of the Xella family. Consequently, URSA will become an independent business unit to continue its successful development. Xella will support URSA with all measures that are appropriate to achieve further profitable growth.”

Xella says that, while URSA will operate as an independent business unit focused on the specific needs of its clients in the insulation sector, there are various areas in which both companies will benefit from each other. URSA completes Xella’s portfolio of mineral-based building materials, creating opportunities to combine products of the new brand into innovative solutions. Also, in terms of size, geographical spread and management structure, URSA is very similar to Xella’s existing business units, allowing for a fast and smooth integration process.

France: Sales from Arkema’s High Performance Materials division, which includes insulation products, rose by 12.5% year-on-year to Euro1.97bn in the first half of 2017 from Euro1.75bn in the same period of 2016. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 8.3% to Euro340m form Euro314m. The chemical producer mainly attributed the boost in sales to its acquisition of sealant producer Den Braven in late 2016. Overall the company also reported increases in sales and EBITDA.

US: Huntsman Corporation’s Polyurethane division has increased its sales revenue by 9% year-on-year to US$1.98bn in the first half of 2017 from US$1.81bn in the same period in 2016 due to raised prices. It increased its prices of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) to counter higher raw material costs and to benefit from a ‘strong’ market. However, sales volumes of MDI decreased in the reporting period due to maintenance outages. This caused its divisional adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to fall in the second quarter of 2017 although it rose as a whole for the half year. Amongst other products the chemical manufacturer produces polyurethane, which is used by the insulation industry.