Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC
(“MBH”, the “Company”, or the “Group”)
Half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2024
Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC (AIM: MBH), the specialist brick manufacturer and brick-fabricator, is pleased to report its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2024.
Financial Highlights:
| 30 June 2024 | 30 June 2023 | Change | |||
| Statutory results | |||||
| Revenue | £35.4m | £42.0m | (15.7%) | ||
| Gross margin | 36.2% | 36.9% | (0.7%) | ||
| Operating profit | £4.1m | £6.1m | (32.8%) | ||
| Profit before tax | £4.1m | £6.1m | (32.8%) | ||
| Basic earnings per share | 3.37p | 5.00p | (32.6%) | ||
| Cash from operations | £0.9m | £7.6m | (88.2%) | ||
| Net cash | £4.1m | £11.8m | (65.3%) | ||
| Dividend per share | 1.60p | 1.50p | 6.7% | ||
| Adjusted results* | |||||
| Adjusted EBITDA1 | £7.2m | £8.7m | (17.2%) | ||
| Adjusted operating profit | £5.3m | £6.8m | (22.1%) | ||
| Adjusted profit before tax | £5.3m | £6.8m | (22.1%) | ||
| Adjusted earnings per share | 4.28p | 5.73p | (25.3%) | ||
Strategic and Operational Highlights:
· Resilient first half of 2024, with revenue down 15.7% from H123, despite a sector wide c.40% decline in brick volume demand over the last 18 months driven by economic uncertainty
· Decrease in volumes in line with management expectations and outperforming market despatch volumes; a result of the diversity of our end markets and the quality of our products
· Balanced opening order book supported first half performance and maintained through the start of the second half
· Continued focus on collaboration with customers to deliver appropriate portfolio pricing
· Proactive approach to our sustainability initiatives with £2.5 million of capex invested in efficiency improvements across our manufacturing base
· Active management of input costs on a risk-based approach, with energy costs continuing to be hedged
· Benefits of a strong balance sheet in challenging markets with net cash of £4.1 million and £20 million borrowing facility underpins financial resilience and flexibility to pursue a balanced capital allocation policy
· Declaration of interim dividend of 1.60 pence (+6.7% on H123) underlines the Board’s confidence in the outlook of the business and its commitment to progressive returns for shareholders
Outlook
· Positive momentum in our order intake and at levels not seen since 2022
· Focus on maintaining a well-balanced forward order book and appropriate pricing expected to support demand across our diverse end market customer base
· The medium term fundamental market drivers for our business are encouraging and we are very well positioned, but given the current challenges in our sector and uncertainty of a market recovery the Board expect our second half outturn to be broadly reflective of our first half performance.
Commenting on the results, Tony Morris, Chair of Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC, said:
“Despite the challenges the wider construction industry and UK brick market continue to face, the Group has been able to deliver a resilient first half performance, growing our market share at a time when UK brick volumes are off c.40% over the last 18 months. This is testament to the team’s resolute focus on delivering high quality products and customer service to a broad and diverse end user base.
“As we move through the second half of the year, we will continue to actively manage our input costs, whilst focusing on maintaining the positive momentum we are seeing in our balanced order book, which is at levels not seen for the past 24 months. With the strength of our balance sheet and net cash position, we are positioned well to trade through the ongoing challenging market conditions and as a result expect our second half performance to be broadly in line with our interim results.”
*The Directors believe that adjusted measures provide a more useful comparison of business trends and performance. Adjusted results exclude exceptional costs associated with acquisitions and aborted corporate transactions and the amortisation of acquired intangibles. The term adjusted is not defined under IFRS and may not be comparable with similarly titled measures used by other companies. .Adjusted performance results are reconciled with statutory results in the Chief Executive Officer’s Statement below.
1 EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation..
An analyst briefing will be held virtually at 09:30am today. To attend, please email michelmersh@yellowjerseypr.com.
The Company also notes that it will be hosting an online presentation to retail investors on Friday, 6 September at 10:00am. Those wishing to join the presentation are requested to register via the following link: Meeting Registration.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU NO. 596/2014) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018.
| Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLCPeter Sharp, Chief Executive OfficerRyan Mahoney, Chief Financial Officer | Tel: +44 (0) 1825 430 412 | |
| Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)Max HartleyBobbie HilliamHarry Pardoe | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000 | |
| Berenberg (Joint Broker)Richard BootleDetlir EleziPatrick Dolaghan | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 | |
| Yellow Jersey PRCharles GoodwinAnnabelle Wills | Tel: +44 (0) 7747 788 221Tel: +44 (0) 7775 194 357 | |