Annual profits up 61 per cent for growing bricks group Ibstock

They were up from £65 million in 2021 to £105m, with revenue 26 per cent ahead at £513m.

Ibstock's Atlas and Aldridge brick manufacturing growth projects are on track to commission from the end of 2023.

It is set to deliver over 100 million bricks of lower-cost capacity a year, with the whole Atlas range to be externally verified as carbon neutral.

£60m has been invested in the clay brick factory in Aldridge on Stubbers Green Road, Aldridge. The adjacent brick factory in Coppice Lane is also being upgraded.

Ibstock, which also makes concrete products, said that it had delivered a strong financial performance last year, ahead of both 2021 and pre-pandemic performance.

It has 16 manufacturing sites and 18 quarries.

Growth capital of £38m was deployed in the year to support strategic growth over the medium term.

Its Ibstock Futures brick slip systems operation is to open a state-of-the-art innovation centre in the West Midlands in the first half of this year. A site has been secured on a long-term lease

Chief executive Joe Hudson said: "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."