Shares in Ibstock (IBST) started trading as recently as October last year, and its complex history explains the lack of comparatives. Ibstock was bought by CRH (CRH) in 1999 before being sold to private equity firm Bain Capital Europe LLP prior to the flotation.
Ibstock is the UK's largest clay brick manufacturer, with around 40 per cent of the market. It also has a US division called Glen-Gery. And to give some idea about how the group as a whole is performing, Ibstock has released some pro-forma numbers that show revenue up by 10.6 per cent on an annualised basis, with adjusted cash profits up by nearly two-thirds at £107m.
The UK business, which accounts for 81 per cent of group turnover, saw revenue increase by 9 per cent to £336m and adjusted cash profits by nearly three-quarters to £99m. Much of this reflected a renaissance in demand for bricks and the ability to push through higher prices. Sales would have been higher without some destocking, although this is expected to reverse in the Spring. In the US, revenue rose by 9.5 per cent at constant currencies to £76.5m and cash profits by 12.7 per cent to £8m, with strong demand from both residential and non-residential markets.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan Cazenove are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits for the year to December 2016 of £96m and EPS of 19p (from £64m/13.3p in 2015).
| IBSTOCK (IBST) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 197.7p | MARKET VALUE: | £802m | |
| TOUCH: | 196-197.4p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 227p | LOW: 188p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 6 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 78p** | NET DEBT: | 46% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015* | 358 | 94.7 | 35.2 | 4.4 |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
Ex-div: 5 May Payment: 3 Jun *Covers the period from 28 November 2014 to 31 December 2015 **Includes intangible assets of £128m or 32p a share | ||||
