Revenue and profits crumble at brick maker

Revenue and profits at Leicestershire brick maker Ibstock have crumbled as the firm admitted that sales were down “significantly” in the six months to the end of June.

Revenue dropped by 14% to £223m, while profit before tax fell by 42% to £30m.

The firm has put the performance down to the £11m cost of the potential closure of its clay sites.

Joe Hudson, CEO, said: “Our first half performance demonstrates our resilience in a subdued market environment, with lower customer demand across both new build and RMI segments. Our focus on customer service and commercial execution, coupled with disciplined management of capacity and costs, has enabled us to deliver a result marginally ahead of our expectations, despite more challenging trading conditions.

“We have continued to make strong progress with our strategic investment plans that will underpin Ibstock’s future growth and enhance our industry leadership position. By focusing on expansion, diversification and innovation we are building new capabilities in faster and sustainability-led growth segments of the UK construction market.

“Although overall sales volumes were down significantly in the first half, demand showed improvement across the period. Whilst recent macroeconomic developments have created increased uncertainty in the outlook, having performed marginally ahead of our expectations during the first half we remain confident in our ability to respond to market conditions in the balance of the year and the Board’s expectations for the full year are unchanged.”