Ahead of its annual general meeting on Friday morning, Kingspan Group PLC said it had a ‘reasonable’ first quarter, despite a ‘sluggish start to the year due in part to seasonal factors.’

The Kingscourt, Ireland-based building materials’ supplier said group sales approached €2 billion in the three months ended March 31 and were 1% behind the prior year.

‘Trading volumes overall have been positive with pricing stable since the turn of the year albeit behind year-on-year reflecting lower raw material prices. It is possible however that our primary input costs could rise again in the near term,’ Kingspan explained.

The Americas overall matched last year’s strong start, Kingspan explained, but noted that Western Europe was !seasonally subdued for the most part‘, and was ’slow to get going‘. The Middle East and India recorded strong sales growth in the quarter, however.

Looking ahead, the company said its outlook remains ’encouraging‘ as its moves through the early part of the second quarter.

Shares in Kingspan were up 2.3% at €85.25 each in Dublin on Friday morning.

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