Insulation industry news from Global Insulation
Saint-Gobain improves results despite slump
20 February 2012France: Saint-Gobain has posted a net income of Euro1.3bn for 2011, a rise of 14% from Euro1.1bn in 2010. The group has attributed this to strong demand for its building materials in emerging markets combined with its ability to pass higher raw material costs to customers in the form of higher prices.
Recurring net income spiked to Euro1.7bn in 2011, a 30% rise from Euro1.3bn in 2010. Operating income rose to Euro3.4bn, a 10% rise compared to Euro3.1bn. Group sales increased to Euro42bn, a 5% rise from Euro40bn.
"We managed to limit the impact of the strong increase of raw material and energy thanks to the increase of the prices of our products," said chief executive Pierre-Andre de Chalendar.
De Chalendar added that he expects a moderated growth of revenues in 2012 as the company intends to continue transferring higher costs to its products' prices. He declined to give specific data, though he said the growth will be slower than the 5% in 2011.
In its Interior Solutions division (which includes insulation) the group recorded sales of Euro5.5bn for 2011, a rise of 6.1% from Euro5.2bn in 2010. Operating income met Euro450m in 2011, a rise of 19% from Euro380m. Notably capital expenditure increased to Euro330m, a rise of 70% from Euro190m. Overall the group doubled investment spending for 2011, in energy efficiency and energy markets, to almost Euro900m.
Sales volumes for Interior Solutions were up in all geographic areas, particularly in the US, Asia and emerging countries. In Western Europe and especially France, trading continued to be buoyed by stricter energy performance regulations.
Saint-Gobain's CEO has announced an ambitious expansion plan to boost total revenues to Euro55bn and net profit to Euro3bn by 2015, through acquisitions and organic growth. The company said the plan to spin off its unit Verallia is still being considered, but market conditions are not favourable in the short term.
Insulation sales help Owens Corning fourth quarter results
15 February 2012US: Owens Corning (OC) has swung to a fourth-quarter profit due to prior-year acquisition-related costs as the company continued to see stronger sales in its building materials. OC saw sales improve for its roofing and insulation materials in 2011 despite the ongoing slump in the US housing market. A focus on costs has helped support its bottom line.
OC reported a profit of US$50m for the fourth quarter of 2011 from a year-earlier loss of US$110m. The year-earlier period included a net US$135m in asset-sales losses and acquisition and restructuring-related charges. Its revenue increased by 2.4% to US$1.2bn and its gross margin rose to 19.2% from 17.1%. The building materials segment, OC's biggest area, reported net sales growth of 8%, including an increase of 8.7% in insulation sales.
Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Thaman said that OC anticipates improved US housing starts and modest growth in the global economy in 2012. The company expects that a strong performance in its building materials business will more than offset impacts of near-term market challenges in its composites business.
Rockwool revises expectations for 2011 and 2012 outlook
13 January 2012Denmark: The major Danish insulation producer Rockwool has announced better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2011. Based on the registered level of sales in 2011, Rockwool expects its sales to have increased by 17% over those of 2010. It expects that its profit after tax and minority interests will come in above Euro80m. In its third quarter report, the Rockwool Group had expected a sales increase of 15% for the full year 2011 compared to 2010 and a profit after tax and minority interests of approximately Euro74m.
The healthy sales trend in Rockwool products continued in the final quarter of 2011, which it says was due to the mild winter weather in Europe combined with strong underlying demand in core markets. Despite the challenging macro-economic environment (especially in Europe) and the rather low visibility, the Rockwool Group expects continued growth in 2012. The Group expects sales to increase by approximately 5% in 2012. It expects its profit after tax and minority interests to be kept at the 2011 level, above Euro80m.
Rockwool reports 40% rise in Q3 profit
24 November 2011Denmark: Rockwool has reported a 40% increase in third-quarter net profit, helped by a recovery in demand in key European markets, higher sales prices and lower input prices. The group confirmed its nine-month report for 2011 that it still expects sales to increase by 15% for the full year with a net profit of around Euro74m.
For the third quarter of 2011 net sales rose year-on-year by 20% to Euro488m from Euro406m in 2010. This was helped by the inclusion of a recent acquisition and recovery of demand in some of its European key insulation materials markets. Profit rose by 40% year-on-year to Euro26m in 2011 from Euro18m in 2010. For the year to date there was a similar rise in sales of 17% compared to 2010 but a smaller increase in profit at only 10%.
The company said it expects the positive sales development observed during the first nine months of 2011 to continue in the coming quarters and that a downwards curve in raw material prices will continue and start to positively impact margins in the fourth quarter.
Owens Corning reports doubling of Q3 profit
26 October 2011US: Owens Corning (OC), has announced today that its third-quarter profit for 2011 has more than doubled. The company attributed the increase to a jump in sales. The Toledo, Ohio company said it posted a profit attributable to common shareholders of USD124m USD1.01/share), up from USD58m from the same quarter of 2010.
Revenue rose by 22% to USD1.45bn from USD1.19bn in 2010, as sales at both the company's insulation and roofing business both rose.
The company said that, based on its current projections, it expects to post its second-consecutive year of adjusted earnings per share growth of nearly 40%.
OJSC Balakovorezinotekhnika returns to profit
12 October 2011Russia: The net 2011 first-half profit of OJSC Balakovorezinotekhnika, which makes a number of plastic-derived technical goods including vibration-dampening insulation and pipe-lagging was USD2.3m against a loss of USD3.52m for the same period of 2010. Its revenue increased by 43% to USD98.4m from USD68.8m and its profit due to sales was USD1.77m against a sales loss of USD1.96m in the first half of 2010.
Rockwool announces second quarter results
24 August 2011Denmark: Rockwool International A/S saw its net profit decline slightly to Euro16.5m in the three months to 30 June 2011 from Euro17.2m in the corresponding period of 2010.
Recovery in the company's main European insulation markets, driven by Germany and France, continued and considerable growth was marked in Poland and Russia as well.
Net sales went up to Euro845m from Euro452m. Operating costs expanded by 18% to Euro434m, which led to a reduction in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to Euro57.9m from Euro64.8m in the quarter.
Rockwool foresees that further sales growth will come in the coming quarters. Rockwool anticipates that its net profit after minority interests will be Euro73.8m for 2011.
US: Owens Corning's (OC) has registered second quarter profit of USD78m, down by 92% from USD937m in the same period of 2010. This was due to the absence of a tax benefit received in 2010. The group's revenue increased by 5.3% to USD1.45bn and its gross margin fell to 19.2% from 20.6%.
Its building materials business, its biggest contributor to the top line, saw revenue rise by 4% thanks to increased roofing sales volumes. This was partly offset by lower insulation sales volumes and the sale of its masonry products business. Its composites sales rose by 8%, mostly thanks to positive currency impacts and, to a lesser degree, higher prices.
OC has also announced that it has completed the acquisition of FiberTEK Insulation LLC and FiberTEK Insulation West LLC. The acquisitions include manufacturing locations in Lakeland, Florida and Nephi, Utah and expand the group's loosefill insulation capacity while strengthening the company's ability to serve North American customers.
Loosefill insulation is becoming more popular due to the increased prevalence of higher efficiency building codes that require increased levels of attic insulation and for its ease of use in energy-efficient retrofits. Unbonded loosefill insulation has grown its share in overall US light density residential fiberglass insulation sales in recent years and represents a success-story amid the broader US residential construction downturn.
"The acquisition of the FiberTEK companies is a great addition for OC and our customers," said Tom Quigley, OC's vice president and general manager for residential insulation. "These acquisitions position OC to serve our customers in this segment as the market returns. They also benefit existing FiberTEK customers by making available our entire array of insulation products, including our revolutionary EcoTouch(TM) family of high-performance residential and light commercial insulation products." The FiberTEK acquisitions will also enable Owens Corning to expand growth opportunities for its EnergyComplete(TM) insulation and air sealing system.
SIG warns of renewed slowdown
11 July 2011UK/Ireland: Roofing and insulation materials supplier SIG took the gloss off a strong first-half performance in 2011 by signalling a slowdown for the rest of the year. The company said that it still expects to make progress in 2011, but that growth will 'moderate' in the second half of the year due to a combination of tough comparative numbers and general economic factors.
The Sheffield-based group reported a slump in consumer spending in the UK and Ireland on areas such as home improvements. It said that reduced government spending was also putting pressure on public sector work.
Total revenues rose by 9% year-on-year to Euro1.57bn in the first half of 2011 with underlying profits 84% ahead at Euro38.3m. The company said that the UK and Ireland saw a 'noticeable softening in demand' towards the end of the second quarter of 2011.