Brickability shares jump on upbeat outlook, solid H1 results

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Brickability jumped on Tuesday after the construction products group expressed confidence in hitting full-year market expectations after a solid first half, saying it is seeing early signs of a recovery in end-markets. The company said that while new build housing, residential and commercial RMI (repair, maintenance, and improvement) markets remain challenging, things like brick order intakes, roofing orders and other product enquires are beginning to recover.

Brickability reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of £21.9m for the six months to 30 September, up 0.5% on last year, helped. by an improvement in the gross profit margin to 19.0% from 16.9%.

Revenues totalled £330.9m, up 1.9% year-on-year but 7.4% lower on a like-for-like basis, reflecting how much recent acquisitions (not included in last year's results) have supported the top line.

The interim dividend was raised to 1.12p per share, up 4.7% from the 1.07p paid out last year.

Chief executive Frank Hanna said he viewed the future outlook with "cautious optimism".

"Enquiry levels are picking up, the order intake is encouraging, and importantly, well represented across each of our four divisions. We remain confident in a recovery of the new build housing market, and Brickability is well positioned to significantly benefit when it happens," Hannah said.

Despite some softness in the new build housing market over the coming months, the company said that medium-term housing market fundamentals are "strong", helped by a structural housing deficit and the new government's commitment to 1.5m new homes during this parliament.

The stock was up nearly 9% at 60.85p by 0907 GMT.