Kingspan (KGP) chief financial officer Geoff Doherty has sold shares worth €3.2m (£2.65m) in the Irish building materials supplier, days after the group’s market valuation reached an all-time high. Mr Doherty’s sale follows the disposal of €0.9m in shares in May last year.
As a producer of building and insulation products that could improve energy efficiency, Kingspan’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials have also made the group popular with some fund managers – the shares are the top holding of Liontrust Sustainable Future UK Growth (GB0030028764). The shares have enjoyed a stellar run over the past 12 months, rising by more than half.
In 2019 the group reported a 12 per cent rise in trading profit, after improving sales of higher-margin insulation products QuadCore and Kooltherm helped boost the margin by 50 basis points to 10.7 per cent. That was despite challenges in the UK – which accounts for a fifth of group revenue – where macroeconomic instability has weighed on demand and caused building projects to be postponed. However, new production facilities were added in the US, Sweden and Brazil in response to growing demand, with expansion in Southeast Asia likely to follow, management said.
After reducing net debt as a proportion of adjusted cash profits to a multiple of 1.1 by the end of 2019 – below a banking covenant multiple of 3.5 – the group also has the firepower to make further acquisitions this year.
Berenberg, which forecasts leverage to fall further to a multiple of 0.7 in 2020, believes Kingspan could spend over €1bn on acquisitions and stay below two times net debt/Ebitda by the end of the year. That could increase its current EPS forecast for 2020 of €2.18 by 17 per cent, the brokerage said.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Ryanair | Kyran McLaughlin | 18 Feb 20 | 30,000 | 525.6 | 157,680 | Converted from euros |
| Gateley | Peter Davies (Coo) | 18 Feb 20 | 89,170 | 200 | 178,340 | |
| Gateley | Heather Davies (PCA) | 18 Feb 20 | 176,295 | 200 | 352,590 | PCA of Peter Davies |
| Gateley | Michael Ward (Ceo) | 18 Feb 20 | 150,000 | 200 | 300,000 | |
| Gateley | Julie Ward (PCA) | 18 Feb 20 | 100,000 | 200 | 200,000 | PCA of Michael Ward |
| GRC International | Andrew Brode | 20 Feb 20 | 2,692,308 | 13 | 350,000 | |
| Checkit | Keith Daley (Cha) | 20 Feb 20 | 2,500,000 | 36 | 900,000 | 22.11% residual interest |
| Jubilee Metals | Colin Bird | 21 Feb 20 | 500,000 | 405 | 2,025,000 | |
| Johnson Matthey | Patrick Thomas (Cha) | 24 Feb 20 | 3,937 | 2,589 | 101,921 |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Whitbread | Louise Smalley | 18 Feb 20 | 5,000 | 4,734 | 236,700 | |
| Whitbread | Robert Smalley (PCA) | 18 Feb 20 | 3,000 | 4,768 | 143,040 | |
| K3 Capital | Elizabeth Ford | 19 Feb 20 | 100,000 | 252.241 | 252,241 | Wife of Tony Ford, exec vice chairman |
| Biffa | Michael Davies (Coo) | 19 Feb 20 | 86,990 | 300 | 260,970 | |
| Tesco | Tony Hoggett (Coo) | 19 Feb 20 | 59,932 | 256.414 | 153,662.54 | |
| TBC Bank | Nikoloz Kurdiani | 20 Feb 20 | 15,338 | 1,385 | 212,373 | |
| Kingspan | Geoff Doherty (Cfo) | 21 Feb 20 | 34,000 | 5,303.83 | 1,803,020 | Converted from euros |
| Kingspan | Geoff Doherty (Cfo) | 21 Feb 20 | 16,000 | 5,361 | 857,760 | Converted from euros |
| Greencore | Patrick Coveney | 21 Feb 20 | 700,000 | 250.5 | 1,753,500 | |
| TBC Bank | Vakhtang Butskhrikidze (Ceo) | 24 Feb 20 | 65,000 | 1,327 | 862,719 | |
| TBC Bank | Vakhtang Butskhrikidze (Ceo) | 25 Feb 20 | 20,000 | 1,340 | 268,008 |
