Insulation and building materials giant Kingspan has reported record profits and revenues for 2024.

The Cavan-headquartered company said profit after tax for the year to the end of December rose by 6% to €691m from €654m in 2023.

And its revenues for the year also increased by 6% to €8.608bn from €8.091bn.

Kingspan said its earnings per share were up 4% to 365.2 cent from 352.3 cent in 2023.

The company has proposed a final dividend per share of 28.5 cent, up 7% on 2023's final dividend of 26.6 cent.

This gives it a total dividend for the year of 54.8 cent, up from 52.9 cent in 2023.

The company's insulation and insulated panels remain its biggest earners.

Kingspan's CEO, Gene Murtagh, said the company delivered record revenue and profitability despite tough end markets and finished the year with good momentum and a notable bounce in the second half.

He added that its first year with Steico, the world's largest natural insulation producer, has been encouraging.

"Despite market gyrations, we continue to invest for the longer term and deployed €1.2 bn of new capital on acquisitions and development activity, including a 51% controlling stake in Steico," he said.

He noted 2024 saw the company's market entry to the growing natural insulation and acoustic insulation categories.

They are also about to launch its PowerPanel insulated PV roofing system while also developing its liquid cooling solutions for the fast growing data segment.

"2024 was also a breakthrough year for our Roofing + Waterproofing platform, doubling profitability, expanding margins and gaining an important and growing foothold in the US," the CEO noted.

"As we look to 2025, our order backlogs are healthy, and our development expenditure has sown the seeds for future growth whilst maintaining almost €2 bn in operational and development headroom.

"2025 will inevitably bring challenges but we remain upbeat for the year ahead supported by structural demand for energy efficient solutions for the built environment," Mr Murtagh added.

Kingspan forecast 2025 will almost certainly involve a number of challenges, but added that it is excited for the year ahead.

"The structural demand for an energy efficient built environment continues to advance around the world. We are uniquely placed to harness that with the breadth of our offering, our Planet Passionate agenda and our strong balance sheet," the company said.

"Our order backlogs are healthy in general and are soaring in the data and artificial intelligence arena. This gives us confidence that 2025 will be another year of progress at Kingspan," it added.

The company said turnover in its Insulated Panels division rose by 19% to €1.824 bn from €1.528 bn, while the division's trading profits were up 2% to €147.8m from €145.1m on the back of an encouraging performance in North America, particularly in the US but also in Canada and Mexico.

Revenues at its Insulation business rose by 19% to €1.824 bn from €1.528 bn in 2023, while trading profits rose by 2% to €147.8m from €145.1m after what Kingspan called "a testing and transformative year".

But in contrast, it said its acoustics and interiors insulation activities had an excellent year after its recent market entry into the US.

Kingspan also noted commissioning of the most advanced plant in the industry in Gromadka in Poland is progressing well and should support further growth in the year ahead.