Flexible insulation specialist Armacell (Luxembourg; www.armacell.com) achieved record figures for its 2018 net sales and adjusted EBITDA by increasing them 1.2% to EUR 610.3m and 3.7% to EUR 106m, respectively. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.4%. This positive performance was achieved despite the weaker US dollar, which had around 4% negative impact on sales.

CFO Max Padberg said the company delivered strong financial results amidst a volatile market environment as well as headwinds from currencies and raw material costs. CEO Patrick Mathieu said Armacell generated robust growth in the insulation business and successfully implemented the strategic investment program. This includes the construction of a greenfield manufacturing site in Bahrain and a new continuous elastomeric production line in Brazil. It also made enhanced technology investments in both US plants at Oklahoma and West Virginia as well as expanded PET production capacity in China – see Plasteurope.com of 15.03.2018.

In 2018, Armacell made significant strategic investments into production site upgrades and product portfolio extensions. It also expanded its manufacturing footprint by acquiring companies on three continents in 2018. One of them is TB Concept (Montreal / Canada; www.insuguard.com), manufacturer of “Insuguard” pipe support solutions. The acquisition strengthens Armacell’s presence in Canada and its global accessories business. It also bought elastomeric insulations foams provider De Xu Insulation Materials (Yingde, Guangdong / China) and PU soundproofing solutions specialist Guarto (Caselle Torinese / Italy; www.guarto.it) – see Plasteurope.com of 05.06.2018 and 10.08.2018.