Brickability Group PLC (AIM: BRCK), the leading construction materials distributor, today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2023 (“H1 FY24”).

H1 FY24 Financial Highlights:

  • Revenue of £324.8m, a decrease of 7.9% compared to H1 FY23 (H1 FY23: £352.7m) and a 14.4% reduction on a like-for-like⁽¹⁾ basis
  • Gross profit of £55.0m (H1 FY23: £54.9m)
  • Increased gross profit margin of 16.9% (H1 FY23: 15.6%)
  • Adjusted EBITDA⁽²⁾ increased slightly to £25.6m (H1 FY23: £25.5m⁽³⁾
  • Adjusted Profit before tax⁽⁴⁾ decreased by 2.7% to £21.8m (H1 FY23: £22.4m⁽³⁾
  • Statutory Profit before tax increased by 8.8% to £16.0m (H1 FY23: £14.7m⁽³⁾)
  • Statutory EPS increased by 1.1% to 3.78p (H1 FY23: 3.74p)
  • Adjusted EPS⁽⁵⁾ decreased by 11.7% to 5.30p (H1 FY23: 6.00p)
  • Net debt⁽⁶⁾ as at 30 September 2023 of £30.9m (H1 FY23: £27.4m)
  • Increased Interim dividend of 1.07 pence per share (H1 FY23: 1.01 pence)

Operational Highlights:

  • Resilient performance across the Group in the first half of FY23, despite macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop.
  • Particularly strong performance in the Contracting and Distribution divisions, highlighting the benefit of the Group’s diversification strategy.

Post Period and Outlook:

  • Strategic acquisition announced in October of Group Topek Holdings Limited (“Topek”) which means the Group now has a full range of cladding capabilities, as well as significantly increasing the Group’s presence in the cladding remediation market.
  • Borrowing facility increased to an initial £100m, from £60m, providing the Group with additional liquidity headroom to fund the Group’s working capital requirements and potential further acquisitions.
  • Proportion of brick revenues now reduced to c.50% of Group revenues as the Company’s strategic focus on diversification continues to yield substantial benefits.
  • As previously announced by the Company on 11 October 2023, the Board expects that forecast reductions in newbuild volumes will have a corresponding impact upon the performance of the Group’s existing businesses throughout the second half of the current financial year.
  • The acquisition pipeline continues to be exciting, and targeted growth against our robust acquisition criteria will continue.
  • The Board remains confident in the Group’s ability to continue to deliver on its strategic objectives.
  • Increased interim dividend reflects the performance of the business in the half year and the Board’s confidence in the longer-term outlook for the Group.

⁽¹⁾like-for-like (“LFL”) revenue is a measure of performance, adjusted for the impact of acquisitions.

⁽²⁾Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and other non-underlying items (See Financial Review
and note 5).

⁽³⁾Re-stated (see note 8 in the interim statement)

⁽⁴⁾Statutory profit before tax excluding non-underlying items (see note 5).

⁽⁵⁾Adjusted profit after tax (statutory profit after tax before non-underlying items) divided by the weighted
average number of shares in the year.

⁽⁶⁾Bank borrowings less cash.

John Richards, Chairman, said:

“It is pleasing to report H1 FY24 performance, and maintained profitability, in line with Board expectations despite challenging trading conditions. Whilst we have previously communicated that the second half of the year is anticipated to see industry wide volume reductions, which the Group is not immune, the Board continues to believe that Brickability’s diversified, multi-business, approach positions the Group to continue to perform well in the current market backdrop and in the future.

The acquisition of Topek is the Group’s second largest⁽⁷⁾ to date and, with the acquisition of Taylor Maxwell having delivered a significant increase in exposure for the Group to public and commercial end markets, the addition of Topek further increases our presence in these markets.

Market conditions will continue to be uncertain in the near term but, having built a robust and increasingly diverse business and with a disciplined approach to costs, we remain confident in the Group’s ability to continue to deliver on its strategy. The Board is pleased to recommend an interim dividend of 1.07p per share, reflecting the performance of the business in the half year and the Board’s confidence in the longer-term outlook for the Group.”

⁽⁷⁾Based on transaction value

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