Sales and profits up at biggest UK brick maker despite industry-wide inflation and supply chain challenges

Britain’s biggest brick maker Ibstock said it has seen a big jump in revenues and profits despite industry-wide inflation and supply chain challenges.

The Leicestershire-headquartered business said it had benefited from strong demand in the new build housing market as well as from customers carrying out repairs, maintenance and improvement work, and infrastructure contracts. At the same time the business said it was maintaining a tight focus on costs.

Ibstock said sales were up 28 per cent in the first half of the year at £259 million, compared to the first six months of 2021. Pre-tax profits were up almost a third at £51 million. The group said its medium term plan is to annual hit sales of £600 million-plus by 2026.

In a trading update, Ibstock said July sales remained encouraging and the business had mitigated energy price risks having already secured 90 per cent of its energy needs for the second half of the year and half of its requirements for next year.

Chief executive Joe Hudson said: “I am very pleased with the group’s first half performance, delivering profit and cash both significantly ahead of the prior period, supported by sustained robust demand across all our end markets and good operational execution.

“We continue to manage inflation and supply chain pressures well and are making good progress with our strategic development plans, with investments in new capacity progressing well, and good momentum in Ibstock Futures [an automated factory in West Yorkshire producing up to 60 million net zero bricks a year], as we focus on the delivery of our ambitious medium term financial targets.

“Our market backdrop remains encouraging in the early weeks of the second half — demand is firm, asset utilisation is high and industry inventories remain low — and the strong first half performance gives us confidence in the full year outcome.

“We have a clear strategy based on both core and diversified growth and will continue to apply our dynamic and disciplined approach to capital allocation.

“While we remain mindful of the broader macroeconomic uncertainties, the board now expects to deliver adjusted EBITDA for the full year modestly ahead of the expectations signalled in April.”