Full Year Results 2017 – statement

Results for the year ended 31 December 2017

Strong financial performance while investing in new capacity.

Further detail provided on capital allocation policy.

Ibstock Plc ('Ibstock' or the 'Group'), a leading manufacturer of clay bricks and concrete products with operations in the United Kingdom and the United States, announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Results for the year:

Year ended 31 December	2017	2016	Change
Revenue	£451.6m	£434.7m	+3.9%
Adjusted EBITDA¹	£119.6m	£111.6m	+7.1%
Adjusted profit before tax¹	£88.3m	£78.8m	+12.1%
Profit before tax²	£83.4m	£110.9m	(24.7%)
Statutory basic EPS	18.1 pence	22.3 pence	(18.8%)
Adjusted basic EPS¹	21.4 pence	18.1 pence	+18.4%
Final dividend	6.5 pence	5.3 pence	+22.6%
Total dividend	9.1 pence	7.7 pence	+18.1%

¹Alternative Performance Measures are described in Note 3 of the financial statements.
²The comparative statutory performance is impacted by the non-cash £30.3m credit in relation to the Group’s pension scheme closure.

Financial Highlights

Strong growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA in line with management’s expectations
Net debt¹to EBITDA at 1.0x
Continued strong underlying cash conversion¹
Successful refinance of debt in March 2017
Final dividend of 6.5 pence per share (2016: 5.3 pence per share) making the 2017 full year dividend 9.1 pence per share (2016: 7.7 pence per share)
Announcement of the Group’s supplementary dividend policy

Operational Highlights

Ibstock Brick benefitting from good activity levels within the UK new build housing sector with brick volumes ahead year-on-year supported by stock reductions
Continued growth in UK Concrete
Investment in additional UK brick capacity to meet demand
- New 100m capacity brick plant in Leicestershire commenced commissioning in Q4 2017 and will expand the Group’s UK brick capacity by c.13% when in full production in FY2019
- Replacement of the brick kiln at the Lodge Lane blue brick plant in Cannock on schedule, with commissioning well advanced
New roof tile project at Forticrete now completed with good demand take-up from major housebuilders
US performance down year-on-year with a slowdown evident from the Spring continuing through the second half of 2017
Joe Hudson joined the Group as CEO Designate in January 2018 and will take up the CEO post as part of an orderly succession process

Wayne Sheppard, Chief Executive Officer of Ibstock Plc, commented: “2017 presented many challenges to the Group but we performed strongly during the year, delivering profits and cash generation in line with management’s expectations.

“For Ibstock in the UK it was a busy and important period of development – our past decisions to invest in additional brick and roof tile capacity, having recognised the strong fundamentals supporting UK new housing growth, have been well timed as these projects enter production phase. We began 2018 with new capacity in place at a time when it is clearly much needed to support strong market demand.

“In addition, recognising our robust balance sheet and strong cash generation we are pleased to provide further detail on our capital allocation strategy to shareholders with the introduction of a supplementary dividend policy, with the first such payment currently expected to be confirmed at the interim results in August.

“Customer demand in our UK clay and concrete markets remains encouraging and while we remain mindful of the uncertainties in the UK economy, we expect another year of progress for the Group.”

Results presentation

Ibstock is holding a presentation to analysts at 09:00 today at the offices of UBS
5 Broadgate, London, EC2M 2AN. Analysts wishing to attend should contact ibstock@citigatedewerogerson.com to register.

An archived version of today’s webcast analyst presentation is available here.