Kingspan Group said today operating profit for the full year will be about €60 million, after steadier trading in recent months.
In an interim management statement, the building supplier partly attributed the performance to cost cutting measures and minimal price rises in raw materials.
Construction markets were still under "significant pressure", the firm said, with the exception of Western Europe. The non-residential sectors in Central and Eastern Europe, and in North America have contracted in recent months, Kingspan said, with little hope that these would bottom out for some time yet.
The company said the building environment is expected to remain "challenging" during 2010, with high rise and low rise commercial weak. However, the residential sector is showing some signs of recovery, it said.
