10th Mar 2016 08:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Clay bricks and concrete products manufacturer Ibstock PLC on Thursday said trading had been in line with expectations, with revenue growth robust on the back of strong clay brick prices.
The FTSE 250 constituent, which listed in London in October and ascended to the mid-cap index in December, posted results from November 28, 2014 to December 31, 2015, which comprised of ten months of trading. The group was spun-out of Irish building materials group CRH PLC in February prior to it listing in London.
It provided adjusted revenue for the year to the end of December, rising to GBP412.8 million revenue, up from GBP373.2 million in 2014, though no pretax profit number. For the statutory results, on which no comparatives were provided, revenue was GBP358.3 million and pretax profit was GBP94.7 million.
Ibstock said its UK business performed strongly, with sales up 9.0% at GBP336.0 million for the year to December 31, helped by a strong pricing environment for bricks. Revenue in its US business grew 9.5% to GBP76.5 million for the year, on the back of rising volumes and higher average prices.
Ibstock said will pay a final dividend of 4.4 pence per share, in line with its dividend policy of distributing 40% to 50% of its adjusted profit after tax over a business cycle.
Ibstock said it saw a slower start to 2016 in terms of UK brick sales, but said its expectations for the full year remain unchanged. It said its construction of a new stock stock brick manufacturing plant in Leicestershire is expected to add approximately 100 million bricks to its brick production capacity per annum. The new plant is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2017.
"Our 2015 results are particularly pleasing as they clearly show that despite the CRH disposal and subsequent initial public offering we maintained our focus and delivered excellent growth in sales, profitability and cash generation for our investors," said Wayne Sheppard, chief executive of Ibstock.
Shares in Ibstock were down 2.5% at 195.90p on Thursday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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