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Insulation and building envelope solutions group Kingspan said it expected to deliver a trading profit for the year after reporting that sales in the nine months through September fell 5% from a year earlier.
Sales in the nine month period to 30 September were €3.27bn, down 5% on the same period in the prior year with sales growth of 1% in the third quarter.
Looking ahead, the company highlighted rising input costs and customer lag as factors contributing to a challeging recovery, but said it expected to return a profit for the year.
'Our raw material costs are on the rise at present and, with the customary lag anticipated, a challenging recovery effort is underway,' the company said. 'Trading in the fourth quarter to date has been strong, helped to an extent by accelerated demand in the expectation of inflation led price increases in the coming months.'
'Whilst conscious that much of the seasonally variable fourth quarter is still at play, in what is an untypical year, we expect to deliver a full year trading profit marginally ahead of 2019,' it added.