Specialist building products firm Kingspan (KGP) is under scrutiny for the role of one of its insulation products in the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire which claimed the lives of 72 people.

Directors in the company are being questioned at an inquiry into the tragedy and since it made its first submission to the hearings on 5 November the shares have lost more than 10% of their value to trade at €72.55.

Recent news articles have focused on director share dealings in September and October ahead of the inquiry, among which saw chief executive Gene Murtagh book a £3.1 million profit.

Kingspan fire-tested its K15 cladding product in 2005 but, despite subsequently changing the formulation of K15, used the original test to sell the material as appropriate for use in high-rise buildings.

For its part the group has acknowledged and apologised for ‘process shortcomings during the period 2005 to 2014’ but stressed it did not advise on the suitability of K15 for use on Grenfell Tower. K15 was used on a small percentage of the façade with the remainder provided by another manufacturer, Celotex.

Kingspan is a big holding in many ESG (environmental, social and governance) funds including products from Baillie Gifford and Liontrust.

The company’s ESG credentials, based on its contribution to energy efficiency through high performance ‘building envelope’ solutions, have contributed to a premium valuation of 32.7 times consensus forecast 2021 earnings per share.

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