Materials suppliers cash in on price inflation

Three major construction materials companies have reported substantial increases in revenue and profit in 2022, after hiking prices to cover rising input costs.

Breedon Group saw its revenue rise by 13 per cent to £1.39bn, while pre-tax profit increased by 19 per cent to £136m.

This was despite sales in its core products falling, with volumes of aggregates, asphalt and cement all lower than in 2021.

The company said that “rising input costs drove the well-publicised need for price increases and were fully recovered”.

Breedon chief executive Rob Wood said 2022 was a “record year” for the group, adding that it had acquired three businesses and was now looking to move its listing from the AIM section of the London Stock Exchange to the premium segment.

SIG, meanwhile, saw its global revenue rise from £2.29bn to £2.74bn, with underlying operating profit rising from £41.4m to £80.2m. It’s pre-tax profit increased from £15.9m to £27.5m. The Sheffield-based multinational saw its UK revenue increase to £1.15bn, from £929.6m in 2021.

Newly-appointed SIG chief executive Gavin Slark said: “Trading in the first two months of 2023 saw mid-single-digit like-for-like revenue growth, with the continued effects of input price inflation more than offsetting year-over-year volume declines.

“Market conditions continue to vary across our geographic footprint, but overall we expect weaker demand conditions to prevail during 2023, offset by a continued tailwind from input price inflation, albeit the latter will continue to moderate further this year.”

Meanwhile, clay bricks and concrete manufacturer Ibstock has reported a £513m revenue for 2022, up 26 per cent from 2021. The company’s pre-tax profit rose by 61 per cent, reaching £105m.

The company’s revenue from concrete grew by 12 per cent to reach £144m, despite overall sales volumes that were “marginally below” 2021 levels. Its revenue from clay increased by 32 per cent to reach £369m, with volumes “consistent with the prior year”.

Overall, Ibstock said it had “continued to price dynamically to recover cost inflation throughout the year”, delivering the 26 per cent revenue increase from overall volumes “broadly in line with the prior year”.

Ibstock chief executive Joe Hudson said: “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.”