Full Year Results 2022 – Statement

Strong financial performance and further strategic progress

Ibstock Plc ("Ibstock" or the "Group"), a leading UK manufacturer of clay bricks and concrete products and solutions, announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2022.

	Statutory results
Year ended 31 December	2022	2021	Δ 1Y	% Change
Revenue	£513m	£409m	+£104m	+26%
Profit before taxation	£105m	£65m	+£40m	+61%
EPS	21.6p	7.8p	+13.8p	>100%

	Adjusted results¹
Year ended 31 December	2022	2020	Δ 1Y	% Change
Adjusted EBITDA	£140m	£103m	£37m	+36%
Adjusted EBITDA margin	27.2%	25.2%	+200bps	+8%
Adjusted EPS	22.7p	13.9p	8.8p	+63%
Total dividend per share	8.8p	7.5p	+1.3p	+17%
Adjusted free cashflow	£50m	£51m	£(1)m	(3)%
ROCE	23.4%	15.8%	+760bps	+48%
Net debt	£46m	£39m	+£7m	(18)%

A year of strong performance

Strong trading performance for the year, with both revenue and profit materially ahead of both the prior year and pre-pandemic comparators
Adjusted EBITDA¹of £140 million (2021: £103 million) was ahead of our expectations set at the beginning of the year, with EBITDA margin of 27.2% (2021: 25.2%)
Return on Capital Employed¹(ROCE) increased to 23.4% (2021: 15.8%) ahead of medium term target of 20%
Balance sheet strength maintained with closing leverage of 0.4x (Dec 21: 0.4x) after £38 million of growth capital and £30 million share buyback during the year
Recommended final dividend of 5.5 pence per share (2021: 5.0p), growing full year dividend by 17% to 8.8 pence per share (2021: 7.5p)

¹ Alternative Performance measures are described in Note 3 to this results announcement.

Building for the future

Growth capital of £38 million deployed in the year to support our strategic growth over the medium-term
Atlas and Aldridge brick projects are on track to commission from the end of 2023, delivering over 100 million bricks of lower-cost capacity per annum, with the whole Atlas range to be externally verified as carbon neutral
Strategic acquisitions and investments in fast-growth areas of UK construction markets during the year have accelerated diversified growth through Ibstock Futures
Brick slip investment strategy further refined, to both accelerate commissioning of an initial capacity extension, as well as incorporate more advanced and efficient process technology in the purpose built factory
Continued strong progress towards ambitious ESG targets, including commitment to deliver 40% absolute reduction in carbon by 2030
Ibstock Futures to open new state of the art innovation hub in West Midlands during H1 2023
Continued investment in people and culture delivering a step change in health, safety and wellbeing during the year
Balance sheet strength provides resilience and strategic optionality to invest further for growth and return additional capital to shareholders over the medium term.

Current trading and outlook

Activity in the early weeks of 2023 has continued to reflect the more cautious demand environment seen in Q4 2022
Energy price risk well covered with over 80% of energy requirements secured for H1 2023 and 65% secured for the full year
Our focus will balance disciplined management of price, cost and capacity in the near-term with the delivery of our major growth projects and strategic progress to ensure delivery against our medium-term targets
We expect conditions to remain subdued through the early part of 2023, but anticipate this to improve as the year progresses, supported by sequential demand improvement
As such, the Board’s expectations for the full year are unchanged

Joe Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “These strong results reflect our continued focus on commercial and operational execution, which has enabled the Group to deliver significant growth and improved returns despite a challenging backdrop. Revenue and profit were materially ahead of both the prior year and pre-pandemic levels, reflecting the strategic progress we have made over the last five years, with the development of a high quality, lower cost and highly efficient asset base allied to the strength of our market positions.

“We have faced into the challenges of recent years to emerge as a more diverse, higher quality business, with a strong management team and a clear strategy focused on value creation in the years ahead. As we face another period of uncertainty, we will draw on this experience to optimise our performance in the short term, while continuing to invest in, and diversify, the business to ensure we remain well placed to deliver on our medium-term targets.

“Activity in the early weeks of 2023 has continued to reflect the more subdued demand environment experienced towards the end of last year, although we anticipate this to improve as the year progresses. With the strong strategic platform we now have in place, I am confident both in our ability to respond effectively to conditions this year, and to achieve significant growth over the medium-term.”

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