Booming demand from housing and RMI sectors sees turnover hit pre-pandemic number

Booming demand from the housing and RMI sectors saw revenue at brickmaker Ibstock return to its pre-pandemic number last year.

Income was up 23% to £409m, matching the figure the firm racked up in 2019 – the last full year of trading before the pandemic struck.

The firm returned to the black with a pre-tax profit of £65m from a £24m loss in 2020 but this was below the £82m profit it posted in 2019.

Ibstock

Ibstock has said it cannot rule out further price hikes on its bricks

It added that it was keeping tabs on rising costs such as energy, freight and materials and “has instituted further selling price increases in the 2022 year which are expected to mitigate the effect of visible cost inflation”.

And it warned firms that further rises could be on the way. “We continue to monitor cost impacts closely and remain committed to taking the actions necessary to protect and maintain margins moving forwards.”

The firm, which said net debt at the year-end had gone down to £39m from £69m, is spending £50m on building a new plant in West Yorkshire to create an automated brick slip systems factory capable of producing up to 60 million brick slips a year from 2025.

Called Ibstock Futures, the new business is aimed at growing revenue in the façade products and offsite and modular markets.

Construction of the new factory has started and is expected to be ready for commissioning towards the end of next year. Ibstock said it would spend £4m this year on getting the business ready in areas such as research and development.

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