Preliminary results
6 March 2024
LEI:
2138003QHTNX34CN9V93
Ibstock
Plc
Results for the year ended
31 December 2023
Resilient performance in
2023; platform for recovery and growth in place
Ibstock Plc ("Ibstock" or the
"Group"), a leading UK manufacturer of a diverse range of building
products and solutions, announces results for the year ended 31
December 2023.
Statutory
Results
|
Year ended 31 December
|
2023
|
2022
|
∆
1Y
|
%
change
|
Revenue
|
£406m
|
£513m
|
(£107)m
|
(21)%
|
Profit before taxation
|
£30m
|
£105m
|
(£75)m
|
(71)%
|
EPS
|
5.4p
|
21.6p
|
(16.2)p
|
(75)%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted
Results1
|
Year ended 31 December
|
2023
|
2022
|
∆
1Y
|
%
change
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
£107m
|
£140m
|
(£33)m
|
(23)%
|
Adjusted EBITDA margin
|
26.5%
|
27.2%
|
(70)bps
|
(3)%
|
Adjusted EPS
|
13.9p
|
22.7p
|
(8.8)p
|
(39)%
|
Total dividend per
share
|
7.0p
|
8.8p
|
(1.8)p
|
(20)%
|
Adjusted free cashflow
|
(£16)m
|
£50m
|
(£66)m
|
>(100)%
|
Net debt
|
£101m
|
£46m
|
£55m
higher
|
>(100)%
|
Resilience and financial strength
•
|
Resilient performance against a
challenging market backdrop; adjusted
EBITDA1 of £107 million (2022: £140 million) in line with
expectations set at the start of the year, underlining the quality
and resilience of the business and steps taken to reduce
costs
|
•
|
Revenue down 21% to £406 million
(2022: £513 million) as sales volumes reduced in line with UK
domestic brick deliveries2. Despite this challenging
backdrop, selling prices remained stable through the
year
|
•
|
Adjusted
EBITDA1 margins of 26.5% remained strong (2022: 27.2%) reflecting a
continued focus on customer service and execution, combined with
the disciplined and decisive management of capacity and
costs
|
•
|
Statutory profit before tax of £30
million (2022: £105 million) including an exceptional charge of £31
million, of which £10 million was a cash cost, following the
restructuring programme undertaken during the year (2022:
exceptional profit of £6 million)
|
•
|
Robust year-end balance sheet
position, with closing net debt of £101 million (2022: £46 million)
representing leverage1
of 1.1 times (2022: 0.4 times), in the middle of
our target range
|
•
|
Cash flow for the year included
£66 million of capital expenditure and £25 million investment in
finished goods inventories providing the platform for rapid
recovery and growth as markets improve
|
•
|
Recommended final dividend of 3.6p
per share (2022: 5.5p), bringing the total dividend for the year to
7.0p (2022: 8.8p) representing a 50% pay-out on adjusted earnings
per share, consistent with our stated
capital allocation framework
|
Active management of cost and capacity, while continuing to
invest in future capability
•
|
Comprehensive operational review
undertaken during the year to reduce fixed cost and align capacity
to near term demand expectations
|
•
|
The resulting restructuring
programme included a number of actions to temporarily reduce
capacity across the business, as well as the permanent closure of
two clay brick factories
|
•
|
Headcount reductions and fixed
costs savings with an annualised value of £20 million achieved,
with around £5 million of this captured in 2023 and the full amount
to be achieved in 2024. One-off cash costs of up to £10 million, of
which around £5 million was paid in 2023; balance to be incurred in
2024
|
•
|
Good progress on all elements of
the Group's capability investment programme, which is now nearing
completion:
|
|
•
|
Commissioning of the new Atlas
brick factory in the West Midlands commenced on schedule, with
production expected to ramp up over the course of the
year
|
|
•
|
Organic investments to build a
market leading position in brick slips are progressing to plan. The
first slips to be produced on our automated cutting line at Nostell
in West Yorkshire will be delivered during the first half of
2024
|
|
|
|
|
Focus on extracting greater value, to accelerate performance
as our markets recover
•
|
Fundamental drivers underpinning
demand in our markets remain firmly in place
|
•
|
The Group is developing
opportunities to accelerate its recovery as conditions normalise
over the medium term by extracting higher value:
|
|
•
|
From our existing portfolio -
Building on the launch of the "One Ibstock" brand by integrating
our Group-wide sales and commercial functions into a single team to
drive improved customer-centricity and cross-selling
|
|
|
•
|
From our factory network - The
combined effect of our investment projects and targeted closures
will result in a permanent net capacity increase of up to 5% within
our clay brick manufacturing network compared to 2022, with
significant improvements in efficiency, productivity and
environmental performance
|
|
|
•
|
From new product development - Our
Nostell investment will provide a step change in capacity for brick
slips, a key pillar in our growing portfolio of building envelope
technologies within Ibstock Futures, targeting high growth market
niches
|
|
|
•
|
From our unrivalled clay reserves
- Further progress made towards the production of calcined clay for
use as a low-carbon cementitious replacement, with further
discussions with potential commercial partners expected in
2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current trading and outlook
●
|
Activity in the early weeks of
2024 has been in line with the subdued levels seen in the latter
part of the 2023 year; while remaining cautious, we currently
anticipate a degree of improvement as the year
progresses
|
●
|
Significant action on fixed cost
will deliver a year-on-year benefit of £15 million in 2024, broadly
equivalent to the benefit in 2023 from fixed cost absorption into
finished goods inventories
|
●
|
With the factory network running
at lower levels of utilisation, the Group will retain a level of
elevated fixed cost in 2024, which preserves our ability to build
back quickly as markets recover
|
●
|
We anticipate year-on-year
inflation across the cost base as a whole in 2024 albeit at a more
modest rate than 2023. We will continue to monitor and respond
to cost and pricing dynamics through the
year
|
●
|
The continued strength of the
balance sheet provides both resilience and optionality in respect
of future growth investments
|
●
|
Despite the cautious outlook for
2024, the Group remains confident in its ability to continue to
respond to market conditions, and to deliver strong growth and
continued cash generation over the medium term as markets
recover
|
Joe Hudson, Chief Executive Officer,
commented:
"We have delivered a resilient
performance for the year in what have been very difficult market
conditions, and I am proud of the way that colleagues across the
Group have responded in such challenging circumstances. Our results
reflect both continued strong execution and the difficult but
decisive actions taken to reduce headcount and realign capacity
with near term market conditions. The organisational changes
implemented during the second half of the 2023 year have created a
leaner, more customer-focused business, which will deliver an
enduring benefit for years to come.
"In doing so, we have also created
a platform to accelerate innovation, with a particular focus on the
sustainability of our products and processes. In combination with
the strength of our brand and unrivalled product portfolio in the
UK construction marketplace, we believe this will unlock
significant value over the years ahead.
"As we focus on doing the right
things to respond to market conditions in the near term, we are
moving towards completion of the key investment projects that will
underpin our growth as the market recovers. Our
investment in new low cost, efficient and
more sustainable brick capacity at our Atlas facility, and a
significant capacity expansion in the fast-growing brick slips
market, are on track and will support our medium-term growth
objectives.
"Activity in the early weeks of
2024 has continued to reflect the more subdued demand environment
experienced throughout the latter part of 2023. As we look further
ahead, it is clear that market fundamentals remain supportive, with
significant unmet demand for new build housing in the UK.
The Group's conviction in its medium-term
prospects is underpinned by an expectation of a return to
normalised conditions within its core markets combined with the
incremental returns generated from our significant capital
investment programme. Although the timing
of this recovery is uncertain, Ibstock is well positioned to
benefit and to deliver on our growth
targets over the medium term."
Results presentation
Ibstock is holding a presentation
at 10.30am today at Peel Hunt, 7th Floor, 100 Liverpool St, London
EC2M 2AT.
Please contact
ibstock@citigatedewerogerson.com
to register your in-person attendance.
A live webcast of the presentation
and Q&A is also available. Please register
here
for the live webcast.
The presentation can also be heard
via a conference call, where there will be the opportunity to ask
questions.
Conference Call Dial-In
Details:
|
UK-Wide: +44 (0) 33 0551
0200
UK Toll Free: 0808 109
0700
US +1 786 697 3501
|
Confirmation code:
|
please quote Ibstock Full Year when prompted by the
operator
|
An archived version of today's
webcast analyst presentation will be available on
www.ibstock.co.uk
later today.
Ibstock Plc
|
01530 261
999
|
Joe Hudson, CEO
|
|
Chris McLeish, CFO
|
|
|
|
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
|
020 7638
9571
|
Kevin Smith
|
|
Jos Bieneman
|
|
About Ibstock Plc
Ibstock Plc is a leading UK
manufacturer of a diverse range of building products and solutions.
The Group concentrates on eight core product categories, each
backed up by design and technical services capabilities:
-
|
Bricks and Masonry, Façade
Systems, Roofing, Flooring and Lintels, Staircase and Lift Shafts,
Fencing and Landscaping, Retaining Walls and Rail and
Infrastructure.
|
The Group comprises two core
business divisions, Ibstock Clay and Ibstock Concrete. The Ibstock
Futures business was established in 2021 to accelerate growth in
new, fast developing segments of the UK construction market and,
while it remains in its initial growth phase, forms part of the
Clay Division.
Ibstock Clay: The leading
manufacturer by volume of clay bricks sold in the United Kingdom.
With 14 manufacturing sites, Ibstock Clay has the largest brick
production capacity in the UK. It operates a network of 14 active
quarries located close to its manufacturing plants. Ibstock
Kevington provides masonry and prefabricated component building
solutions, operating from 4 sites.
Ibstock Concrete: A leading
manufacturer of concrete roofing, walling, flooring and fencing
products, along with lintels and rail & infrastructure
products. The Concrete Division operates from 13 manufacturing
sites across the UK.
Ibstock Futures: Complements the
core business divisions by accelerating diversified growth
opportunities which address key construction trends, including
sustainability and the shift towards Modern Methods of Construction
(MMC). Operating from an innovation hub in the West Midlands, and
the Nostell redevelopment in West Yorkshire.
Ibstock is headquartered in the
village of Ibstock, Leicestershire, with 32 active manufacturing
sites across the UK.
As a leading building products
manufacturer, the Group is committed to the highest levels of
corporate responsibility. The ESG 2030 Strategy sets out a clear
path to address climate change, improve lives and manufacture
materials for life, with an ambitious target to reduce carbon
emissions by 40% by 2030 and become a net zero operation by
2040.
Further information can be found
at www.ibstock.co.uk
Forward-looking statements
This announcement contains
"forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements
include all matters that are not historical facts and include
statements regarding the intentions, beliefs or current
expectations of the directors. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to
future events and circumstances that are difficult to predict and
outside of the Group's ability to control. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and the actual
results of the Group's operations. Forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date of such statements and, except as required by
applicable law, the Group undertakes no obligation to update or
revise publicly any forward-looking statements.
Chief Executive's Review
Introduction
The Group delivered a
resilient performance for the year,
against what has been a challenging market backdrop. Activity in
our core residential markets was materially below the comparative
period, with domestic industry sales volumes experiencing a
slowdown as the 2023 financial year progressed. Despite these
difficult market conditions, adjusted EBITDA1 for 2023
was in line with the expectations set at the start of the
year, underlining the quality of the
business and steps taken to actively manage costs.
It was particularly pleasing to
see the way colleagues across the Group responded to the
challenging market conditions, as the UK new build housing market
adjusted to higher interest rates and increased economic
uncertainty. The result achieved reflects both continued strong
commercial execution and the difficult but necessary action taken
during the year to realign costs and capacity with near term market
conditions. Whilst taking this action, we have been focused on
preserving key skills and knowledge to ensure that the Group
retains the ability to build back quickly when markets
recover.
As part of the operational review
undertaken during the year, we also took steps to integrate our
core commercial and innovation capabilities, meaning we will now go
to market through a single sales force, able to offer customers our
entire range of clay and concrete products from one place. We
believe this will unlock significant value over the years ahead
through the quality of our brand and unrivalled product portfolio
in the UK construction marketplace.
As we took appropriate action to
respond to difficult market conditions, we also continued to make
good progress with the investment projects that will underpin our
future growth as the market recovers. Our investment in new low
cost, efficient and more sustainable brick manufacturing capacity
at our Atlas facility, and the first phase of a significant
capacity expansion in the fast-growing brick slips market, are both
in the commissioning phase, and will support our medium-term growth
objectives as markets recover. We also made continued progress with
our growth project to develop sustainable building materials from
our unrivalled stock of owned clay reserves, successfully proving
the technical feasibility of producing calcined clay for use as a
low-carbon cementitious replacement. We expect to progress
commercialisation discussions with potential partners for this
activity during 2024.
The Group remains in a strong
financial position, with a robust balance sheet providing
significant resilience and optionality in respect of future growth
investments.
The Board has recommended a final
dividend of 3.6p per share (2022: 5.5p), representing a full year
dividend of 7.0p (2022: 8.8p), a pay-out of 50% of adjusted basic
earnings per share, in line with our stated capital allocation
framework.
Financial Performance
Revenue of £406 million was 21%
below the prior year (2022: £513 million), reflecting significantly
lower activity levels in our core residential markets. Sales
volumes in our residential product categories reduced in line with
the broader domestic market, which was down by around 30% compared
to the prior year. Having achieved a significant selling price
increase during the second half of the 2022 year, pricing remained
stable through the 2023 year.
Adjusted EBITDA1 was
£107 million (2022: £140 million), reflecting the significant
reduction in sales volumes. Performance benefited from the
disciplined management of capacity and costs, as well as around £15
million of fixed cost absorbed into finished goods inventories,
which increased materially during the year, as the Group
replenished stocks from lower levels.
The adjusted EBITDA
margin1 reduced modestly to 26.5%, compared to 27.2% in
2022. Adjusted earnings per share reduced to 13.9 pence (2022: 22.7
pence).
Adjusted Return on Capital
Employed1 (ROCE) reduced to 13.4% (2022: 23.4%)
reflecting both lower levels of operating profit and an increase in
invested capital following investment in growth projects and
finished goods inventories during 2023.
The Group's balance sheet remains
strong with closing net debt at £101 million (2022: £46 million)
representing leverage of 1.1x adjusted EBITDA1 (2022:
0.4x). This robust year-end position was achieved through a
resilient cash flow performance, after around £66 million of fixed
capital expenditure including £45 million of growth expenditure and
a £25 million investment in finished goods inventories as levels
were rebuilt to support customer service and to ensure the business
is well placed for market recovery.
Divisional Review
Ibstock Clay
Revenues in the Clay Division
reduced by 21% to £292 million (2022: £369 million) driven by a
significant reduction in sales volumes, in line with the trend
experienced across the broader UK domestic brick market. Having
taken action to increase prices during the second half of 2022, the
Clay Division achieved a price benefit relative to the comparative
period, with selling prices remaining stable through the 2023
year.
As expected, imported brick
volumes reduced at a faster rate than domestic shipments, being
down by 42% at 329 million (2022: 570 million). Domestic brick
market volumes reduced by around 30% over the same
period.
Adjusted EBITDA1
reduced by 22% to £99 million (2022: £127 million), reflecting a
significant reduction in sales volumes, partly mitigated through a
resilient contribution margin performance and decisive action to
reduce fixed costs. Performance benefited from an increase in
inventory, with the absorption of fixed cost as production levels
exceeded sales volumes in the year. The
underlying performance of the division also benefited from property
gains totalling around £2 million in the year (2022:
£nil).
Ibstock Futures
The Group continued to make good
progress with its ongoing development of the Ibstock Futures
business ("Futures") during the year, with both the facades
business based at our new innovation hub in the West Midlands and
our organic investments in brick slip capacity at Nostell, West
Yorkshire progressing to plan. Revenues for Futures, which are
reported in the Clay segment, totalled £12 million (2022: £4
million), with profit performance broadly in line with our
expectations. We continued to invest in research, innovation and
business development, incurring around £5 million of cost in the
full year (in line with 2022).
While near term performance will
reflect the more challenging economic and regulatory backdrop
observed across UK construction markets, we continue to see a
strong pipeline of opportunities to grow Futures, both organically
and by acquisition. This represents a significant opportunity for
value creation as we seek to further expand and diversify our
product offering over the medium term to facilitate the growth of
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in the UK (particularly
targeting the mid to high rise segment as well as modular house
building).
Ibstock Concrete
The breadth of the Concrete
Division's end-market exposure supported the delivery of a strong
performance for the year in more difficult trading conditions,
with EBITDA margin percentage
maintained despite a significant reduction in
sales volumes.
Revenue reduced by 21% to £114
million (2022: £144 million), reflecting a material decline in
sales volumes within our residential product categories. Our
infrastructure business, which is focused on a number of attractive
niche markets, delivered a strong performance, growing revenues to
around £19 million (2022: £17 million) at margins above the
residential concrete product categories.
Adjusted EBITDA1 for
the Concrete Division was £19 million, down 21% year on year,
(2022: £24 million) as a stronger performance within infrastructure
and the benefit of fixed cost absorption maintained adjusted EBITDA margins1 at 16.4%
(2022: 16.4%).
Ibstock Concrete continued to add
to its asset footprint and product offering during the year. In
June the Division completed a small asset acquisition in its
infrastructure business, acquiring the trade and assets of G-Tech,
an innovative designer and supplier of concrete railway platform
solutions. During the final quarter of 2023, the division also
completed the bolt-on acquisition of Coltman Precast, a
manufacturer of hollowcore flooring, staircases and landings, based
in the West Midlands. Coltman geographically complements the
Division's existing footprint and will now enable us to offer a
full flooring solution to our customers. Over the medium term,
these acquired businesses are expected to deliver revenues of at
least £15 million per annum.
Operational review
Against the backdrop of subdued
market conditions, during the year the Group completed a
comprehensive operational review, with the objective of reducing
our fixed cost base and aligning capacity with near-term
demand.
The restructuring programme
included the permanent closure of two clay brick factories, at
Ravenhead in the North West and South Holmwood in the South East.
Together, these two factories accounted for just under 10% of the
Group's clay network capacity as at 1 January 2023.
In addition, we have taken a
number of temporary steps to reduce capacity. In doing so, we have
retained a core operational team at each factory, to retain the
skills and knowledge at these sites. Although this will cause us to
carry a level of incremental fixed cost in the near-term,
crucially, it will preserve the ability of the business to build
back quickly as markets recover.
Overall, the restructuring
programme has reduced Group headcount by over 15% and removed fixed
costs with an annualised value of £20 million, with around £5
million of this captured in 2023 and the full amount to be achieved
in 2024. The total exceptional charge arising from this
restructuring programme totalled £31 million. Within this charge,
cash costs of the programme totalled £10 million, of which £5
million was paid in 2023.
The Group also expects to
recognise additional costs of around £5 million over the next 12
months on final closure and decommissioning costs as part of our
restructuring plan for our site closures.
As part of the operational review,
we also took steps to integrate our core commercial and innovation
capabilities from across the business into a single, unified sales
team, sharpening our customer proposition and ensuring we go to
market in a more aligned, coordinated way. These changes build on
the "One Ibstock" approach to unify our brand and market-facing
communications which were launched successfully earlier in the
year, and mean we will now offer customers our entire range of clay
and concrete products from one place. It is pleasing to see that
these changes are already delivering some initial commercial
benefits through solution selling and a more joined up approach to
commercial pipeline management.
Major projects
The fundamental drivers
underpinning medium-term demand in our markets remain firmly in
place. In order to capitalise on these attractive fundamentals, the
Group has completed the majority of a £120 million capital
investment programme which began in 2021, investing in growth
projects across both core and new,
diversified markets.
Core clay investments in capacity
at Atlas and Aldridge
Commissioning of our new Atlas
factory in the West Midlands commenced on schedule during the final
quarter of 2023. Atlas will produce the UK's first externally
verified carbon neutral brick and will increase annual network
capacity by over 100 million bricks to support the Group's
long-term growth objectives. We also completed the investment to
upgrade the dryers and packaging equipment in the adjacent Aldridge
factory during the second half of 2023.
Production at both factories will
ramp up over the course of the year, with volumes managed according
to prevailing market conditions. The overall resulting increase in
our clay network capacity from these investments (net of the two
permanent closures at Ravenhead and South Holmwood) will be around
5%.
To date, we have invested £66
million in these two related projects, with around £10 million
remaining to be invested during 2024. Once operating at full
capacity, we expect these investments to generate incremental
EBITDA of around £18 million per annum1.
Diversified growth investments in
brick slip capacity at Nostell, Yorkshire
The new automated brick slips
cutting line at Nostell, West Yorkshire is now commissioning, with
customer deliveries expected to commence during the first half of
2024. This line will deliver up to 17 million slips per annum once
operating at full capacity. Customer reaction to this new
high-quality source of domestic supply has been very positive, and
this investment represents our first step towards building a scale
leadership position in this fast-growing product
category.
Phase two of the Nostell
redevelopment, the construction of a larger brick slip systems
line, is progressing well, and will deliver a further 30 million
slips per annum. We intend to match the remaining build schedule of
this factory to market growth over the next two years.
To date, we have invested around
£12 million in these related slips projects, with around £30
million remaining to be invested over the next two years. Once both
investments are operating at full capacity, we expect these
projects to generate incremental EBITDA of at least £12 million per
annum1.
Strategic update
Our strategy is to enhance our
existing business while investing for growth in both our core and
diversified construction markets. Our operational strategy is
centred on three strategic pillars of Sustain, Innovate and Grow,
with our ambitious ESG commitments embedded across all three. At
the beginning of 2023, we established several priorities across the
business, based around these three strategic pillars, and I am
pleased to say that we have continued to make good progress in each
area. An update on progress is set out below.
Sustain
As a scale industrial business,
sustainable high performance is at the heart of what we do. We are
focused on three priority areas: health, safety and wellbeing;
operational excellence; and environmental performance.
Health, safety and
wellbeing
The Group remains committed to
driving its business to zero harm for everyone and we continued to
make progress towards our health and safety targets during the
year, achieving a reduction in Lost Time Injury Frequency Rates
(LTIFR) of over 50% from the 2016 baseline.
Key initiatives in year included
safety training leadership programmes for managers and Safe Start
2023 workshops for all employees. 26 of the Group's factories were
recognised for achieving LTIFR free milestones in the year, with
our concrete factory in Bootle, Liverpool achieving over 4,000
incident-free days.
The Group also received several
external industry awards in recognition of its safety progress and
sector-leading approach, including the Award of Excellence from the
British Ceramic Council (BCC) for outstanding contribution to
Health & Safety across the industry.
Operational
excellence
We have invested significant
capital over the last five years to enhance the reliability and
performance of our factory networks, and the Group's manufacturing
estate delivered another robust performance in 2023, driven by a
flexible and disciplined approach to capacity and cost management.
Despite a material reduction in production volumes year-on-year,
both the clay and concrete factory networks delivered a strong
performance in reliability, quality and yield. During the year, we
also completed a major kiln rebuild at the Parkhouse brick factory
- another addition to the asset enhancements undertaken by the Clay
Division which deliver energy and cost efficiency.
We continued to make progress on
key asset transformation and automation initiatives, including the
commissioning of a growth investment at our walling stone factory
at Anstone, near Sheffield. Once fully operational, this automated
line will drive significant safety benefits, increased product
quality for our customers and an overall capacity uplift of around
30% in this attractive residential concrete product
category.
Environmental
performance
We continue to act at all levels
of the business to deliver our ambitious target of a 40% reduction
in carbon by 2030. It is pleasing to see a 37% reduction in our
absolute Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions against our 2019 baseline,
and whilst a large proportion of this reduction links to lower
production volumes during 2023, a number of operational efficiency
and dematerialisation projects have contributed to this
reduction.
Having established our high level
carbon transition plan to 2030, including the impact of key
investment projects and our continued operational enhancement
programme across the factory estate, we remain on track to deliver
our 2030 target.
We were pleased to receive further
external recognition for the leadership role we are playing in ESG,
and also to receive funding, from the government's Industrial
Energy Transformation Fund to support a major sustainability
investment at our Laybrook brick factory in West Sussex, which we
estimate will deliver a reduction in carbon emissions of more than
15%.
Innovate
Product
Innovation
As market leader in clay and
concrete products, we have the broadest range of building products
and solutions available in the UK, and we continue to invest to
enhance our customer offer. To improve the flow of innovative new
products across our business, during the year the Group created a
single dedicated innovation function to serve all the Group's
markets, with a mandate covering new product development, quality
and technical standards.
In late 2023, the Group developed
the first Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for its clay
business, providing customers with essential data on the
environmental impact of our product range for the first time. Our
masonry product range offers a competitive sustainability
proposition to our customers, and we will be expanding our EPD
footprint further in the years ahead.
Within the Concrete Division, our
infrastructure business continues to lead the industry for product
innovation and carbon reduction. We were honoured to receive the
prestigious Sustainability Supplier award at the global 2023
Siemens Mobility Awards in Munich, for the development of an
innovative sustainable Signal Base solution.
Customer
Experience
The Group made significant
progress in 2023 on enhancing the customer experience - making it
easier than ever to access the diverse range of building products
and solutions offered by the Group. As well as launching a new "One
Ibstock" brand and website earlier in the year, the recent
restructuring of our sales and commercial teams is bringing a more
co-ordinated and customer-centric approach. We firmly believe
that our powerful brand and unrivalled, unified, product offering
will increasingly provide us with a source of competitive advantage
in UK construction markets over the years ahead.
Digital Transformation
The digitisation of our business
is a key strategic enabler as we begin to drive an increasing
proportion of our sales activities through digital channels. During
the 2023 year we successfully piloted our online customer portal
with a small number of our builders' merchant customers and expect
to scale this activity further during the year ahead.
Grow
Grow the core
business
Our redeveloped Atlas 'pathfinder'
factory will produce the UK's first carbon neutral brick, and we
are excited about making our first customer deliveries of this
innovative new product later this year. We remain committed to
levels of sustaining capital investment which will ensure reliable
network performance, and continue to expect asset reliability and
process improvement initiatives to deliver marginal gains in
factory output over the medium term.
Grow through
diversification
Ibstock Futures made good
operational and strategic progress during the year as it continued
to build its capabilities in new, fast-growth areas of the UK
construction market.
We have made continued progress
towards the production of sustainable building materials from our
unrivalled clay reserves, successfully proving the technical
feasibility of using our owned clay reserves to manufacture
calcined clay for use as a cementitious replacement. We expect to
progress discussions with potential partners to commercialise this
activity during the year ahead.
During the 2023 year we also
completed a pilot project to fire clay bricks using synthetic gas
produced from waste. We are now in commercial negotiations to
commission assets at a Group location.
During the first half of 2023,
Futures consolidated its operations into a single location in the
West Midlands. The Power Park facility in Wolverhampton provides a
scalable platform for the growth of Futures in the years ahead, as
we develop the site to become a state-of-the-art innovation hub for
Facades and MMC.
The new automated brick slips
cutting line at Nostell, West Yorkshire is now commissioning with
customer deliveries expected to commence during the first half of
the year. This represents a first significant step towards building
a scale leadership position in this fast-growing product
category.
Grow our
People
Towards the end of 2023,
colleagues from across the business shared their opinions in the
bi-annual employee engagement survey. The results of this survey
demonstrated very solid progress, with participation rates
increasing to 76% (2021: 62%) and all engagement measures
showing improvement. We are passionate about establishing culture
as a key point of difference across our organisation, and were
delighted to see that the Ibstock Story and the "Fire Up"
recognition programme continue to inspire and unite colleagues
across the business.
As part of our diversity and
inclusion initiatives, in September 2023 Ibstock became a founding
member of the Construction Inclusion Coalition (CIC), the new
industry body created to improve equity,
diversity and inclusion across the construction sector. We are
taking an active role, with one of our senior HR leaders being
seconded to the coalition to lead efforts to advance Equality,
Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) across the sector.
Progress towards medium term targets
The Group's conviction in its
medium-term prospects is underpinned by an expectation of a return
to normalised conditions within its core markets combined with the
incremental returns generated from our significant capital
investment programme.
Despite the significant reduction
in market activity experienced during 2023, our adjusted EBITDA
margin1 of 26.5% remained strong, and close to our
medium-term ambition of 28%. As conditions normalise in our core
residential markets, we anticipate a recovery in sales volumes and
revenues, with operational leverage delivering an improvement in
margins and returns.
Alongside this recovery, we are
moving towards completion of the key investment projects that will
underpin incremental growth over the medium term. Our
investment in new low cost, efficient and
more sustainable brick manufacturing capacity at our Atlas
facility, and the first phase of a significant capacity expansion
in the fast-growing brick slips market, are on track and will
support our medium-term growth objectives.
Whilst the timing of recovery
remains uncertain, given the strength of our business, and our
conviction in the fundamentals of our markets, we remain confident
in achieving our stated medium-term financial targets.
Outlook for 2024
With market conditions in the
early weeks of the new financial year similar to those experienced
during the second half of the prior year, we anticipate residential
construction markets to remain subdued in the near term.
While remaining cautious we currently anticipate
a degree of improvement as the year progresses. In line with our well-established
forward cover strategy, the Group has around 70% of its energy
needs covered for the 2024 financial year.
The significant action taken to
reduce fixed costs, through rationalising manufacturing capacity
and reducing indirect cost, will deliver a year-on-year benefit of
around £15 million in 2024, which is broadly equivalent to the
benefit recognised in the 2023 year from fixed cost
absorption.
With the factory network running
at lower levels of utilisation, and following the commissioning of
our Atlas factory, the Group will carry a level of incremental
fixed cost in the near-term, although, crucially, this will
preserve our ability to build back quickly as markets recover. We
anticipate year-on-year inflation across the cost base as a whole
in 2024, albeit at a more modest rate than 2023. We will continue
to monitor and respond to cost and pricing dynamics through the
year.
Market fundamentals remain
supportive, with significant unmet demand for new build housing in
the UK, and we expect a recovery in activity as macroeconomic
conditions improve. While the pace and timing of this remains
uncertain, we will continue to respond to market conditions, taking
the action necessary to protect performance, while ensuring the
business remains well-positioned for an increase in activity. With
a robust balance sheet and a clear growth strategy, and with the
fundamental drivers underpinning residential market demand firmly
in place, the Board remains confident in the medium term prospects
for the business.
Chief Financial Officer's report
Introduction
The Group delivered a resilient
financial performance in 2023 against a subdued market backdrop,
with both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share in line
with expectations set at the start of the year. Both revenue and
profit were significantly below the comparative period, reflecting
lower activity levels in our core residential markets, with the
domestic brick market around 30% below the prior year.
The Group managed the reduction in
sales volumes well, through stable pricing
and a disciplined management of capacity and
costs. This intense focus on commercial
execution and cost management ensured that adjusted
EBITDA1 margins remained strong at 26.5% (2022: 27.2%),
despite a significant fall in activity levels.
Group statutory profit before
taxation of £30.1 million (2022: £104.8 million), reflected the
impact of lower underlying operating profits and an exceptional
charge1 of £30.8 million (2022: credit of £6.3 million)
arising from the Group's restructuring plan.
The Group maintained a strong
balance sheet, with closing net debt1 of £101 million at
31 December 2023 representing leverage1 of 1.1 times
adjusted EBITDA1 (Dec 2022: 0.4 times).
This robust year-end position was achieved
through a resilient cash flow performance which included around £66
million of capital expenditure (including £45 million of growth
expenditure) and a £25 million investment in finished goods
inventories as levels were rebuilt from lower levels. We also
acquired Valerie Coltman Precast, a business engaged in the
manufacture of precast and prestressed concrete products, for cash
consideration of £3 million. At 31
December 2023, the Group had £100 million of undrawn committed
facilities in place.
With our robust financial
position, and inherently cash generative business, we continue to
expect to generate significant cash to support growth and
shareholder returns over the medium term.
Climate Change & TCFD
As a long-term, energy intensive
business, a commitment to environmental sustainability and social
progress is central to the company's purpose. In 2022 we launched
the Group's ESG 2030 Strategy and remain committed to this
approach. This strategy provides the framework for actions across
the three key areas that the Group needs to focus on:
●
|
Addressing climate
change;
|
●
|
Improving lives; and,
|
●
|
Manufacturing materials for
life.
|
At the same time, we have
considered the impact of both transition and physical risks of
climate change on the financial performance and position of the
Company, through our viability scenario assessment, our impairment
testing and assessment of the useful economic lives of our assets
and also our assessment the resilience of our business model, as
part of our strategic planning process. The outputs from this
exercise are detailed in our TCFD disclosures in the 2023 Annual
Report and Accounts.
The Group continues to be
committed to increasing the transparency of reporting around
climate impacts, risks, and opportunities. This year we have
enhanced our disclosure to ensure full compliance with the
recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD) and those of Climate-related Financial
Disclosure (CFD).
Alternative performance measures
This results statement contains
alternative performance measures ("APMs") to aid comparability and
further understanding of the financial performance of the Group
between periods. A description of each APM is included in Note 3 to
the financial statements. The APMs represent measures used by
management and the Board to monitor performance against budget, and
certain APMs are used in the remuneration of management and
Executive Directors. It is not believed that APMs are a substitute
for, or superior to, statutory measures.
Group results
The table below sets out segmental
revenue and adjusted EBITDA1 for the year
|
|
Clay
|
Concrete
|
Central
costs
|
Total
|
|
|
|
|
£'m
|
£'m
|
£'m
|
£'m
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total revenue
|
|
292.2
|
113.6
|
-
|
405.8
|
Adjusted EBITDA1
|
|
98.8
|
18.6
|
(10.1)
|
107.4
|
Margin
|
|
33.8%
|
16.4%
|
|
26.5%
|
Profit/(loss) before tax
|
|
37.9
|
5.0
|
(12.9)
|
30.1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended 31 December
2022
|
|
|
|
Total revenue
|
|
369.2
|
143.7
|
-
|
512.9
|
Adjusted EBITDA1
|
|
126.7
|
23.6
|
(10.6)
|
139.7
|
Margin
|
|
34.3%
|
16.4%
|
|
27.2%
|
Profit/(loss) before tax
|
|
104.9
|
12.5
|
(12.7)
|
104.8
|
1 Alternative Performance Measures are described in Note 3 to
the results announcement
Due to rounding, numbers presented
may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may
not precisely reflect the absolute figures
Revenue
Group revenues for the 2023 year
decreased by 21% to £405.8 million (2022: £512.9 million),
reflecting significantly lower activity levels in our core
residential markets. Sales volumes in our
residential product categories reduced in line with the broader
domestic market, which was down by around 30% compared to the prior
year, with selling prices remaining stable through the
year.
In our Clay Division, revenues of
£292.2 million represented a reduction of 21% on the prior year
(2022: £369.2 million). Volumes reduced in line with the overall
domestic brick market. Year-on-year average selling prices
increased, following action to increase
prices taken during the second half of the 2022 year.
Our Futures business grew revenues to £12 million
(2022: £4 million).
In our Concrete Division, revenue
decreased by 21% year-on-year to £113.6 million (2022: £143.7
million), reflecting a material decline in
sales volumes within our residential product categories. Our
infrastructure business, which is focused on a number of attractive
niche markets, delivered a strong performance, growing revenues to
around £19 million (2022: £17 million).
Adjusted EBITDA1
Management measures the Group's
operating performance using adjusted EBITDA1. Adjusted
EBITDA1 decreased year on year to £107.4 million in 2023
(2022: £139.7 million) reflecting
significantly lower activity levels in our core residential
markets, mitigated by strong commercial execution and the
disciplined management of capacity and cost.
Performance also benefited from
the absorption of around £15 million of fixed cost into finished
goods inventories, which increased during the year as the Group
built back finished goods stocks from lower levels. Adjusted
EBITDA1 margins remained strong at 26.5%, marginally below the prior
year (2022: 27.2%) as a strong focus on commercial and operational
execution largely offset the impact of materially lower sales
volumes.
Within the Clay Division, adjusted
EBITDA1 totalled £98.8 million (2022: £126.7 million),
representing an adjusted EBITDA1 margin of 33.8% (2022:
34.3%). The reduction in adjusted EBITDA1 reflected
significantly lower activity levels in our residential markets
offset by resilient contribution margin performance and disciplined
and decisive cost management. The division also benefited from
property gains totalling around £2 million in the year. In line
with our expectations, the division recognised a cost of £5.0
million (2022: £5.3 million) in Ibstock Futures, as the business
continued to invest in research & development, in-house
innovation and commercial capability.
Adjusted EBITDA1 in our
Concrete Division decreased to £18.6 million (2022: £23.6 million).
Whilst the division experienced a significant decline in demand
within its residential product categories, adjusted
EBITDA1 margins were maintained at 16.4% (2022: 16.4%).
This performance was achieved through significant action on cost
and a strong performance from infrastructure, which achieved
margins in excess of the divisional average on volumes broadly in
line with the comparative period. The division also benefited from
inventory build, which led to the absorption of around £2 million
of fixed cost during the 2023 year.
Central costs decreased to £10.1
million (2022: £10.6 million) reflecting discretionary cost
reduction action and lower variable remuneration costs.
Exceptional items1
Based on the application of our
accounting policy for exceptional items1, certain income
and expense items have been excluded in arriving at adjusted
EBITDA1 to aid shareholders' understanding of the
Group's underlying financial performance.
The amounts classified as
exceptional1 in the period totalled a cost of £30.8
million (2022: £6.3 million gain), comprising:
1.
|
Exceptional cash cost of £10.2
million (of which £4.6 million was cash settled in the period),
associated with the Group's rationalisation and closure of sites as
part of the restructuring plan
|
2.
|
An exceptional non-cash charge of
£20.6 million comprising the impairments associated with the
Group's closure of sites as part of this plan.
|
The Group expects to recognise
additional cash costs of around £5 million over the next 12 months
on final closure and decommissioning costs as part of our single
coordinated plan for our site closures. These costs have not been
accounted for in the 2023 results since the Group was not committed
to this specific expenditure at year-end and so no provision could
be recognised.
Further details of exceptional
items1 are set out in Note 5 of the financial
statements.
Finance costs
Net cash interest paid of £5.8
million was slightly above the prior year (2022: £4.3 million) due
to higher levels of average debt. The Group continued to benefit
from its £100 million private placement at a fixed coupon of 2.19%
per annum, and drew down amounts under its variable rate Revolving
Credit Facility (RCF) towards the latter part of the year. For the
2024 year, we expect net cash interest expense to be around £8
million.
Statutory net finance costs of
£5.0 million increased in the year (2022: £2.7 million) principally
reflecting reduced interest income from the Group's main defined
benefit pension scheme and increased interest expense following
utilisation of the Group's RCF.
Profit before taxation
Depreciation and amortisation pre
fair value uplift increased to £29 million (2022: £26 million) due
to charges related to new haulage assets and the Futures innovation
hub in the West Midlands. We expect depreciation and amortisation
pre fair value uplift to total around £34 million in 2024,
reflecting incremental depreciation from the Atlas and Nostell
factories and a full year of the Futures innovation hub lease
cost.
Group statutory profit before
taxation of £30.1 million (2022: £104.8 million), reflected the
impact of lower underlying operating profits and an exceptional
charge1 of £30.8 million (2022: credit of £6.3 million)
arising from the Group's restructuring plan.
Taxation
The Group recognised a taxation
charge of £9.0 million (2022: £17.9 million) on Group pre-tax
profits of £30.1 million (2022: £104.8 million),
resulting in an effective tax rate ("ETR") of
30.0% (2022: 17.1%) compared with the average standard rate of UK
corporation tax of 23.5%. The lower statutory tax charge arose from
the significant reduction in taxable profits. The ETR increased as
a result of the increase in standard rate of UK corporation tax,
which impacted both current and deferred taxation as well as a
reduction in the permanent benefit arising from the UK tax super
deduction.
The adjusted ETR1
(excluding the impact of the deferred tax rate change and
exceptional items) for the 2023 year was 24.6% (2022: 16.5%). The
increase in adjusted ETR from the prior year was due to the
increase in the standard rate of UK corporation
tax and a reduction in permanent benefit
arising from the super deduction which, until March 2023, provided
statutory tax relief on 130% of qualifying capital expenditure. For
the 2024 year, we expect the adjusted ETR to increase to around
26%, reflecting a full year of corporation tax at 25% and normal
levels of non-deductible expenses.
Earnings per share
Group statutory basic earnings per
share (EPS) decreased to 5.4 pence in the year to 31 December 2023
(2022: 21.6 pence) as a result of the Group's reduced profit
after taxation, reflecting the reduced trading result and
exceptional costs arising from our 2023 restructuring
plan.
Group adjusted basic
EPS1 of 13.9 pence per share reduced from 22.7 pence in
the prior year, reflecting: a decrease in adjusted
EBITDA1; an increase in the underlying depreciation
charge from recent capital investment projects and leases; and a
higher adjusted ETR following an increase in the headline UK
corporation tax rate. In line with prior years, our adjusted
EPS1 metric removes the impact of exceptional
items1, the fair value uplifts resulting from our
acquisition accounting and non-cash interest impacts, net of the
related taxation charges/credits. Adjusted EPS1 has been
included to provide a clearer guide as to the underlying earnings
performance of the Group. A full reconciliation of our adjusted
EPS1 measure is included in Note 7.
Table 1: Earnings per
share
|
2023
pence
|
2022
pence
|
Statutory basic EPS
|
5.4
|
21.6
|
Adjusted basic
EPS1
|
13.9
|
22.7
|
Cash flow and net debt1
Adjusted operating cash flow
decreased by £58 million to £50.0 million (2022: 108.0 million),
reflecting a reduction in adjusted EBITDA1
from significantly lower activity levels in our
core residential markets. The Group also
increased working capital levels by £37.0 million (2022: £1.8
million increase) as finished goods inventories were built
back from lower levels.
Net interest paid in 2023
increased to £5.8 million (2022: £4.3 million) reflecting an
increased interest cost as the Group drew down on its bank
facilities during the latter part of the year. Cash tax amounted to
a small inflow of £0.6 million (2022: payment of £11.7 million), as
taxable profit decreased from the prior year and the Group
continued to benefit from the accelerated tax deduction on
qualifying capital expenditure. Other cash outflows of £14.9
million (2022: £12.1 million outflow) included £1.8 million in
respect of carbon emission credits purchased during the year (2022:
£5.6 million), Coltman consideration of £2.7 million and lease
payments totalling £10.0 million (2022: £8.0 million).
The Cash conversion1
percentage decreased to 47% (2022: 77%), reflecting a material
reduction in adjusted EBITDA1 and the investment in
working capital as finished goods inventories increased during the
year.
Adjusted free cash
flow1 decreased significantly to an outflow of £15.6
million (2022: inflow of £49.7 million). Capital expenditure of
£65.7 million increased by £7.3 million on 2022 (£58.4 million),
reflecting the Group's continued investment in its organic growth
projects to support our medium-term growth objectives. The 2023
capital expenditure figure comprised around £21 million of
sustaining expenditure, £29 million on the Atlas and Aldridge
redevelopments, £11 million on the slips project at Nostell (as we
managed the pace of capital deployment on the larger slips systems
factory) and around £5 million on other growth projects. In the
2024 year, sustaining expenditure is expected to remain at around
£20 million, with growth investments in Atlas, Aldridge and Futures
expected to total £25 million to £30 million.
Table 2: Cash flow
(non-statutory)
|
2023
|
2022
|
Change
|
£'m
|
£'m
|
£'m
|
Adjusted
EBITDA1
|
107.4
|
139.7
|
(32.3)
|
Adjusted change in working
capital1
|
(37.0)
|
(1.8)
|
(35.2)
|
Net interest
|
(5.8)
|
(4.3)
|
(1.5)
|
Tax
|
0.6
|
(11.7)
|
12.3
|
Post-employment
benefits
|
(0.3)
|
(1.8)
|
1.5
|
Other2
|
(14.9)
|
(12.1)
|
(2.7)
|
Adjusted operating cash
flow1
|
50.0
|
108.0
|
(58.0)
|
Cash
conversion1
|
47%
|
77%
|
-30ppts
|
Total capex
|
(65.7)
|
(58.4)
|
(7.3)
|
Adjusted free cash
flow1
|
(15.6)
|
49.7
|
(65.3)
|
1 Alternative Performance Measures are described in Note 3 to
the consolidated financial statements.
2 Other includes operating lease payments and emission
allowance purchases in all years, and Coltman consideration in
2023
The table above excludes cash
flows relating to exceptional items1 in both years.
During 2023, the Group incurred £4.6 million of exceptional cash
costs relating to the Group's rationalisation and closure of sites
(2022: £7.8 million inflow).
Net debt1 (borrowings
less cash) at 31 December 2023 totalled £100.6 million (31 December
2022: £45.9 million; 30 June 2023: £89.1 million). The movement
during the 2023 year reflected the investment of £37.0 million in
working capital and £65.7 million of capital
expenditure.
At 31 December 2023, the Group had
drawn £25 million under its Revolving Credit Facility (RCF), and
had £100 million of undrawn committed facilities in
place.
The present value of lease
liabilities increased to around £44 million (2023: £33 million) due
principally to the long-term property lease entered into during the
year for the Futures innovation hub in the West
Midlands.
Return on capital employed1
Return on capital
employed1 (ROCE) in 2023 reduced to 13.4% (2022: 23.4%).
The reduction reflected both a decrease in adjusted operating
profit and an increase in the capital base, as the Group invested
in both working capital and growth investments to
support our medium-term growth
objectives.
Capital allocation
The Group's capital allocation
framework remains consistent with that laid out in 2020, with the
Group focused on allocating capital in a disciplined and dynamic
way.
Our capital allocation framework
is set out below:
●
|
Firstly, we will prioritise
investment to maintain and enhance our existing asset base and
operations;
|
●
|
We are focused on a progressive
ordinary dividend, with targeted cover of approximately 2 times
underlying earnings through the cycle;
|
●
|
Thereafter, we will deploy capital
for growth, both inorganically and organically, in accordance with
our strategic and financial investment criteria;
|
●
|
And, finally, we will return surplus
capital to shareholders.
|
Our framework remains underpinned by our commitment to
maintaining a strong balance sheet, and we will look to maintain
leverage at between 0.5 and 1.5 times net debt1 to
adjusted EBITDA1 excluding the impact of IFRS 16,
through the cycle.
Dividend
The Board has recommended a final
dividend of 3.6p per share (2022: 5.5p), for payment on 31 May 2024 to shareholders on the register on
10 May 2024. This will bring the full year
dividend to 7.0p (2022: 8.8p), a pay-out of 50% of adjusted basic
earnings per share, consistent with our stated capital allocation
framework.
Pensions
At 31 December 2023,
the defined benefit pension scheme ("the
scheme") was in an actuarial accounting
surplus position of £9.8 million (31 December 2022: surplus of
£15.2 million). Applying the valuation principles set out in IAS19,
at the year end the scheme had asset levels of £373.7 million (31
December 2022: £373.6 million) against scheme liabilities of £363.9
million (31 December 2022: £358.4 million).
On 20 December 2022, the Scheme
completed a full buy-in transaction with a specialist third-party
provider, which represented a significant step in the Group's
continuing strategy of de-risking its pensions exposure. Together
with the partial buy-in transaction in 2020, this insures the vast
majority of the Group's defined benefit liabilities. This
transaction, which involved no initial cash payment by the Company,
completed during the 2023 financial year.
In light of the fact that the
pension scheme was in a net surplus position after the full buy-in,
the Trustees and the Group agreed that the Group would suspend
paying contributions with effect from 1 March 2023.
Related party transactions
Related party transactions are
disclosed in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements.
During the current and prior year, there have been no material
related party transactions.
Subsequent events
Except for the proposed ordinary
dividend, no further subsequent events requiring either disclosure
or adjustment to these financial statements have arisen since the
balance sheet date.
Going concern
The Directors are required to
assess whether it is reasonable to adopt the going concern basis in
preparing the financial statements.
In arriving at their conclusion,
the Directors have given due consideration to whether the funding
and liquidity resources are sufficient to accommodate the principal
risks and uncertainties faced by the Group.
Having considered the outputs from
this work, the Directors have concluded that it is reasonable to
adopt a going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
This is based on an expectation that the Company and the Group will
have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for at
least twelve months from the date of signing these
accounts.
Further information is provided in
note 2 of the financial statements.
Statement of directors' responsibilities in relation to the
financial statements
The 2023 Annual Report and
Accounts which will be issued in March 2024, contains a
responsibility statement in compliance with DTR 4.1.12 of the
Listing Rules which sets out that as at the date of approval of the
Annual Report on 5 March 2024, the Directors confirm to the best of
their knowledge:
- the Group and unconsolidated
Company financial statements, prepared in accordance with the
applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view
of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss
of the Group and Company, and the undertakings included in the
consolidation taken as a whole; and
- the performance review contained
in the Annual Report and Accounts includes a fair review of the
development and performance of the business and the position of the
Group and the undertakings including the consolidation taken as a
whole, together with a description of the principal risks and
uncertainties they face.
This responsibility statement was
approved by the Board of Directors on 5 March 2024 and is signed on
its behalf by:
Joe Hudson
|
Chris McLeish
|
Chief Executive Officer
|
Chief Financial Officer
|
5 March 2024
|
5 March 2024
|
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Revenue
|
4
|
405,839
|
512,886
|
Cost of sales
|
|
(290,883)
|
(316,521)
|
Gross profit
|
|
114,956
|
196,365
|
Distribution costs
|
|
(36,797)
|
(47,961)
|
Administrative expenses
|
|
(47,623)
|
(49,624)
|
Profit on disposal of property,
plant and equipment
|
|
1,957
|
6,541
|
Other income
|
|
3,312
|
2,630
|
Other expenses
|
|
(774)
|
(524)
|
Operating profit
|
|
35,031
|
107,427
|
|
|
|
|
Finance costs
|
|
(5,932)
|
(4,553)
|
Finance income
|
|
968
|
1,890
|
Net finance cost
|
|
(4,964)
|
(2,663)
|
|
|
|
|
Profit before taxation
|
|
30,067
|
104,764
|
Taxation
|
6
|
(9,007)
|
(17,884)
|
Profit for the financial year
|
|
21,060
|
86,880
|
|
|
|
|
Profit attributable to:
|
|
|
|
Owners of the parent
|
|
21,060
|
86,908
|
Non-controlling interest
|
|
-
|
(28)
|
|
Notes
|
pence per share
|
pence per share
|
Earnings per share
|
|
|
|
Basic - continuing
operations
|
7
|
5.4
|
21.6
|
Diluted - continuing
operations
|
7
|
5.3
|
21.5
|
Non-GAAP measure
|
|
|
|
Reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to Operating profit for the
financial year for continuing operations
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Operating profit
|
|
35,031
|
107,427
|
Add back/(less) exceptional items
impacting operating profit
|
5
|
30,762
|
(6,278)
|
Add back depreciation and
amortisation
|
4
|
41,564
|
38,518
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
|
107,357
|
139,667
|
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE
INCOME
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
|
|
|
|
Profit for the financial year
|
|
21,060
|
86,880
|
Other comprehensive
income/(expenses):
|
|
|
|
Items that may be reclassified to
profit or loss
|
|
|
|
Change in fair value of cash flow
hedges1
|
|
(591)
|
641
|
Related tax
movements1
|
|
148
|
(149)
|
|
|
(443)
|
492
|
Items that will not be
reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
|
|
|
|
Remeasurement of post employment
benefit assets and obligations1
|
13
|
(5,283)
|
(44,581)
|
Related tax
movements1
|
|
1,320
|
11,147
|
|
|
(3,963)
|
(33,434)
|
|
|
|
|
Other comprehensive expense for the year net of
tax
|
|
(4,406)
|
(32,942)
|
Total comprehensive income for the year, net of
tax
|
|
16,654
|
53,938
|
Total comprehensive income attributable to:
|
|
|
|
Owners of the
company
|
|
16,654
|
53,966
|
Non-controlling
interest
|
|
-
|
(28)
|
|
|
|
|
1 Impacting retained
earnings
|
|
|
|
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
|
31 December
2023
|
31
December
2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
Non-current assets
|
|
|
|
Intangible assets
|
|
82,017
|
90,242
|
Property, plant and
equipment
|
|
440,400
|
409,091
|
Right-of-use assets
|
|
39,831
|
31,478
|
Derivative financial
instruments
|
|
-
|
116
|
Post-employment benefit
asset
|
13
|
9,832
|
15,194
|
|
|
572,080
|
546,121
|
Current assets
|
|
|
|
Inventories
|
|
119,189
|
94,275
|
Current tax recoverable
|
|
1,171
|
1,717
|
Derivative financial
instruments
|
|
-
|
451
|
Trade and other
receivables
|
|
37,919
|
65,935
|
Cash and cash
equivalents
|
|
23,872
|
54,283
|
|
|
182,151
|
216,661
|
Total assets
|
|
754,231
|
762,782
|
Current liabilities
|
|
|
|
Trade and other
payables
|
|
(80,526)
|
(120,003)
|
Derivative financial
instrument
|
|
(24)
|
-
|
Borrowings
|
8
|
(25,496)
|
(436)
|
Lease liabilities
|
|
(9,292)
|
(7,690)
|
Provisions
|
9
|
(6,002)
|
(1,613)
|
|
|
(121,340)
|
(129,742)
|
Net current assets
|
|
60,811
|
86,919
|
Total assets less current liabilities
|
|
632,891
|
633,040
|
Non-current liabilities
|
|
|
|
Borrowings
|
8
|
(98,992)
|
(99,769)
|
Lease liabilities
|
|
(34,541)
|
(25,414)
|
Deferred tax
liabilities
|
|
(89,929)
|
(84,349)
|
Provisions
|
9
|
(9,562)
|
(7,299)
|
|
|
(233,024)
|
(216,831)
|
Total liabilities
|
|
(354,364)
|
(346,573)
|
Net assets
|
|
399,867
|
416,209
|
Equity
|
|
|
|
Share capital
|
|
4,096
|
4,096
|
Share premium
|
|
4,458
|
4,458
|
Retained earnings
|
|
790,971
|
807,894
|
Other reserves
|
15
|
(399,658)
|
(400,290)
|
Equity attributable to owners of the
company
|
|
399,867
|
416,158
|
Non-controlling interest
|
|
-
|
51
|
Total equity
|
|
399,867
|
416,209
|
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share
capital
|
Share
premium
|
Retained
earnings
|
Other
reserves
(see Note 15)
|
Total equity attributable to
owners
|
Non-controlling
interest
|
Total
equity
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Balance at 1 January 2023
|
4,096
|
4,458
|
807,894
|
(400,290)
|
416,158
|
51
|
416,209
|
Profit for the year
|
-
|
-
|
21,060
|
-
|
21,060
|
-
|
21,060
|
Other comprehensive
expense
|
-
|
-
|
(3,963)
|
(443)
|
(4,406)
|
-
|
(4,406)
|
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the
year
|
-
|
-
|
17,097
|
(443)
|
16,654
|
-
|
16,654
|
Transactions with owners:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share based payments
|
-
|
-
|
2,308
|
-
|
2,308
|
-
|
2,308
|
Deferred tax on share based
payments
|
-
|
-
|
(147)
|
-
|
(147)
|
-
|
(147)
|
Equity dividends paid
|
-
|
-
|
(34,907)
|
-
|
(34,907)
|
-
|
(34,907)
|
Issue of share capital on exercise
of share options
|
-
|
-
|
(1,075)
|
1,075
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Acquisition of subsidiary
non-controlling interest
|
-
|
-
|
(199)
|
-
|
(199)
|
(51)
|
(250)
|
At 31 December 2023
|
4,096
|
4,458
|
790,971
|
(399,658)
|
399,867
|
-
|
399,867
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share
capital
|
Share
premium
|
Retained
earnings
|
Other
reserves
(see Note 15)
|
Total
equity attributable to owners
|
Non-controlling interest
|
Total
equity
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
At 1 January 2022
|
4,096
|
4,458
|
785,609
|
(370,934)
|
423,229
|
-
|
423,229
|
Loss for the year
|
-
|
-
|
86,908
|
-
|
86,908
|
(28)
|
86,880
|
Other comprehensive
(expense)/income
|
-
|
-
|
(33,434)
|
492
|
(32,942)
|
-
|
(32,942)
|
Total comprehensive income/(expense) for the
year
|
-
|
-
|
53,474
|
492
|
53,966
|
(28)
|
53,938
|
Transactions with owners:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Share based payments
|
-
|
-
|
2,547
|
-
|
2,547
|
-
|
2,547
|
Current tax on share based
payment
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
Deferred tax on share based
payment
|
-
|
-
|
116
|
-
|
116
|
-
|
116
|
Equity dividends paid
|
-
|
-
|
(33,701)
|
-
|
(33,701)
|
-
|
(33,701)
|
Purchase of own shares
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(30,000)
|
(30,000)
|
-
|
(30,000)
|
Issue of own shares held on
exercise of share options
|
-
|
-
|
(152)
|
152
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Acquisition of subsidiary with
non-controlling interest
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
79
|
79
|
At 31 December 2022
|
4,096
|
4,458
|
807,894
|
(400,290)
|
416,158
|
51
|
416,209
|
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Cash flow from operating activities
|
|
|
|
Cash generated from
operations
|
11
|
63,656
|
137,765
|
Interest paid
|
|
(3,667)
|
(2,888)
|
Other interest paid - lease
liabilities
|
|
(2,368)
|
(1,274)
|
Tax received/(paid)
|
|
630
|
(11,699)
|
Net cash inflow from operating
activities
|
|
58,251
|
121,904
|
Cash flows from investing activities
|
|
|
|
Purchase of property, plant and
equipment
|
|
(65,653)
|
(58,354)
|
Proceeds from sale of property
plant and equipment
|
|
2,070
|
7,883
|
Purchase of intangible
assets
|
|
(2,423)
|
(5,573)
|
Settlement of deferred
consideration
|
|
(112)
|
-
|
Payment for acquisition of
subsidiary undertaking, net of cash acquired
|
14
|
(2,642)
|
(959)
|
Interest received
|
|
257
|
124
|
Net cash outflow from investing
activities
|
|
(68,503)
|
(56,879)
|
Cash flows from financing activities
|
|
|
|
Dividends paid
|
|
(34,907)
|
(33,701)
|
Drawdown of borrowings
|
|
30,000
|
-
|
Repayment of borrowings
|
|
(5,000)
|
-
|
Debt issue costs
|
|
-
|
(259)
|
Repayment of lease
liabilities
|
|
(9,986)
|
(8,010)
|
Cash outflow from purchase of
shares
|
15
|
-
|
(30,000)
|
Acquisition of non-controlling
interests
|
|
(250)
|
-
|
Net cash outflow from financing
activities
|
|
(20,143)
|
(71,970)
|
|
|
|
|
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
|
|
(30,395)
|
(6,945)
|
Cash and cash equivalents at
beginning of the year
|
|
54,283
|
61,199
|
Exchange (loss)/gain on cash and
cash equivalents
|
|
(16)
|
29
|
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the
year
|
|
23,872
|
54,283
|
Reconciliation of changes in cash and cash equivalents to
movement in net debt
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Net decrease in cash and cash
equivalents
|
|
(30,395)
|
(6,945)
|
Proceeds from
borrowings
|
|
(30,000)
|
-
|
Repayment of borrowings
|
|
5,000
|
-
|
Non-cash debt movement
|
|
717
|
(134)
|
Effect of foreign exchange rate
changes
|
|
(16)
|
29
|
Movement in net debt
|
|
(54,694)
|
(7,050)
|
Net debt at start of
year
|
|
(45,922)
|
(38,872)
|
Net debt at end of year (Note 3)
|
|
(100,616)
|
(45,922)
|
|
|
|
|
Comprising:
|
|
|
|
Cash and cash
equivalents
|
|
23,872
|
54,283
|
Short-term borrowings (Note
8)
|
|
(25,496)
|
(436)
|
Long-term borrowings (Note
8)
|
|
(98,992)
|
(99,769)
|
|
|
(100,616)
|
(45,922)
|
1.
AUTHORISATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The consolidated financial
statements of Ibstock Plc, which has a premium listing on the
London Stock Exchange, for the year ended 31 December 2023 were
authorised for issue in accordance with a resolution of the
Directors on 05 March 2024. The balance sheet was signed on behalf
of the Board by J Hudson and C McLeish. Ibstock Plc is a public
company limited by shares, which is incorporated and registered in
England. The registered office is Leicester Road, Ibstock,
Leicestershire, LE67 6HS and the company registration number is
09760850.
2.
BASIS OF PREPARATION
The consolidated financial
statements of Ibstock Plc for the year ended 31 December 2023 have
been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards
(IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and
related interpretations as issued by the IASB and IFRS as adopted
by the UK. They are prepared on the basis of all IFRS accounting
standards and interpretations that are mandatory as at the period
ended 31 December 2023 and in accordance with the Companies Act
2006. The comparative financial information has also been prepared
on this basis.
The financial information set out
does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year
ended 31 December 2023 but is derived from those accounts.
Statutory accounts for 2023 will be delivered to the registrar of
companies in due course. The auditors have reported on those
accounts; their reports were (i) unqualified, (ii) did not include
a reference to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by
way of emphasis without qualifying their report and (iii) did not
contain a statement under Section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies
Act 2006 in respect of the accounts for 2023. The consolidated
financial statements are presented in Pounds Sterling and all
values are rounded to the nearest thousand (£'000) except where
otherwise indicated. The significant accounting policies are set
out below.
Basis of consolidation
The consolidated financial
statements of Ibstock Plc for the year ended 31 December 2023 have
been prepared in accordance with UK adopted International
Accounting Standards (IAS). The financial statements of
subsidiaries are prepared for the same reporting period as the
Parent Company, using consistent accounting policies except Valerie
Coltman Holdings Limited and Coltman Precast Concrete Limited, for
which the financial statements are prepared as at 31 March 2024.
All intra-Group balances, transactions, income and expenses and
profit and losses resulting from intra-Group transactions have been
eliminated in full.
Subsidiaries are consolidated from
the date on which the Group obtains control and cease to be
consolidated from the date on which the Group no longer retains
control. The Group controls an entity when the Group is exposed to,
or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with the
entity and has the ability to affect those returns through its
power over the entity.
Going concern
Despite the macroeconomic downturn,
there are initial positive external market indicators, with
inflation continuing to fall and mortgage rates stabilising, which
are expected to increase consumer confidence looking forward.
Management does not believe that the going concern basis of
preparation represents a significant judgement.
The Group's financial planning and
forecasting process consists of a budget for the current year
followed by a medium-term projection, and the Group also
re-forecasts current year performance on a quarterly basis. The
going concern assessment period extends to June 2025. The Directors
have reviewed and robustly challenged the assumptions about future
trading performance, operational and capital expenditure and debt
requirements within these forecasts including the Group's liquidity
and covenant forecasts, and stress tested within their going
concern assessment.
In arriving at their conclusion on
going concern, the Directors have given due consideration to
whether the funding and liquidity resources above are sufficient to
accommodate the principal risks and uncertainties faced by the
Group, particularly those relating to economic conditions,
operational disruption and the effect of climate change.
Group forecasts have been prepared
which reflect both actual conditions and estimates of the future
reflecting macroeconomic and industry-wide projections, as well as
matters specific to the Group.
The Group has financing
arrangements, comprising £100 million of private placement notes
with maturities of between 7 and 12 years and a £125 million RCF
for an initial four-year tenor, with an enacted one year extension
option, both of which were arranged in 2021. At 31 December 2023
the Group had drawn £25 million under the RCF.
Covenants under the Group's RCF and
private placement notes require leverage of no more than 3 times
net debt to adjusted EBITDA1, and interest cover of no
less than 4 times, tested bi-annually at each reporting date with
reference to the previous 12 months. At 31 December 2023 covenant
requirements were met with significant headroom.
The key uncertainty faced by the
Group is the industry demand for its products in light of
macroeconomic factors. Accordingly, the Group has modelled
financial scenarios that see reduction in the demand for its
products, thereby stress testing the Group's resilience. For each
scenario, cash flow and covenant compliance forecasts have been
prepared. In the most severe but plausible scenario industry demand
for Clay and Concrete products are projected to be around 40% lower
than 2022 in the 2024 year, recovering to around 28% lower than
2022 in 2025.
In the severe but plausible low
case, the Group has sufficient liquidity and headroom against its
covenants, with covenant headroom expressed as a percentage of
annual adjusted EBITDA being in excess of 30%.
In addition, the Group has prepared
a reverse stress test to evaluate the industry demand reduction at
which it would be likely to breach the debt covenants, before any
further mitigating actions were taken. This test indicates that, at
a reduction of 48% in sales volumes versus 2022 levels, in both
2024 and the first half of 2025, the Group would be at risk of
breaching its covenants.
The Directors consider this to be a
highly unlikely scenario, and in the event of an anticipated
covenant breach, the Group would seek to take further steps to
mitigate, including the disposal of valuable land and building
assets and additional restructuring steps to reduce the fixed cost
base of the Group.
Having taken account of the various
scenarios modelled, and in light of the mitigations available to
the Group, the Directors are satisfied that the Group has
sufficient resources to continue in operation for a period of not
less than 12 months from the date of this report. Accordingly, the
consolidated financial information has been prepared on a going
concern basis.
3.
ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Alternative Performance Measures
("APMs") are used within the management report where management
believes it is necessary to do so in order to provide further
understanding of the financial performance of the Group. Management
uses APMs in its own assessment of the Group's performance and in
order to plan the allocation of internal capital and resources.
Certain APMs are also used in the remuneration of management and
Executive Directors.
APMs serve as supplementary
information for users of the financial statements and it is not
intended that they are a substitute for, or superior to, statutory
measures. None of the APMs are outlined within IFRS and they may
not be comparable with similarly titled APMs used by other
companies.
Exceptional items
The Group presents as exceptional
at the foot of the Group's Condensed consolidated income statement
those items of income and expense which, because of their
materiality, nature and/or expected infrequency of the events
giving rise to them, merit separate presentation to allow users of
the financial statements to understand further elements of
financial performance in the year. This facilitates comparison with
future periods and the assessment of trends in financial
performance over time.
Details of all exceptional items
are disclosed in Note 5.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin
Adjusted EBITDA is the earnings
before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation adjusted
for exceptional items. Adjusted EBITDA margin is Adjusted EBITDA
shown as a proportion of revenue.
The Directors regularly use
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin as key performance
measures in assessing the Group's profitability. The measures are
considered useful to users of the financial statements as they
represent common APMs used by investors in assessing a company's
operating performance, when comparing its performance across
periods as well as being used in the determination of Directors'
variable remuneration.
A full reconciliation of Adjusted
EBITDA is included at the foot of the Group's Condensed
consolidated income statement within the consolidated financial
statements. Adjusted EBITDA margin is included within Note
4.
Adjusted EPS
Adjusted EPS is the basic earnings
per share adjusted for exceptional items, fair value adjustments
being the amortisation and depreciation on fair value uplifted
assets and non-cash interest, net of associated taxation on the
adjusting items.
The Directors have presented
Adjusted EPS as they believe the APM represents useful information
to the user of the financial statements in assessing the
performance of the Group, when comparing its performance across
periods, as well as being used in the determination of Directors'
variable remuneration. Additionally, the APM is considered by the
Board when determining the proposed level of ordinary dividend. A
full reconciliation is provided in Note 7.
Net debt and Net debt to adjusted EBITDA ("leverage")
ratio
Net debt is defined as the sum of
cash and cash equivalents less total borrowings at the balance
sheet date. This does not include lease liabilities arising upon
application of IFRS 16.
The Net debt to adjusted EBITDA
ratio definition removes the operating lease expense benefit
generated from IFRS16 compared to IAS 17 within adjusted
EBITDA.
The Directors disclose these APMs
to provide information as a useful measure for assessing the
Group's overall level of financial indebtedness and when comparing
its performance and position across periods.
A full reconciliation of the net
debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio (also referred to as 'leverage') is
set out below:
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Net debt
|
(100,616)
|
(45,922)
|
|
|
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
107,357
|
139,667
|
Impact of IFRS 16
|
(12,134)
|
(8,491)
|
Adjusted EBITDA prior to IFRS
16
|
95,223
|
131,176
|
|
|
|
Ratio of net debt to adjusted
EBITDA
|
1.1x
|
0.4x
|
Adjusted Return on Capital Employed (Adjusted
ROCE)
Adjusted Return on Capital Employed
("Adjusted ROCE") is defined as Adjusted earnings before interest
and taxation as a proportion of the average capital employed
(defined as net debt plus equity excluding the pension surplus).
The average is calculated using the period end balance and
corresponding preceding reported period end balance (year end or
interim).
The Directors disclose the Adjusted
ROCE APM in order to provide users of the financial statements with
an indication of the relative efficiency of capital use by the
Group over the period, assessing performance between periods as
well as being used within the determination of executives' variable
remuneration.
The calculation of Adjusted ROCE is
set out below:
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
107,357
|
139,667
|
Less depreciation
|
(34,626)
|
(31,579)
|
Less amortisation
|
(6,938)
|
(6,939)
|
Adjusted earnings before interest and
taxation
|
65,793
|
101,149
|
|
|
|
Average net debt
|
94,863
|
40,791
|
Average equity
|
407,061
|
426,501
|
Average pension
|
(10,160)
|
(35,707)
|
Average capital employed
|
491,764
|
431,585
|
|
|
|
Adjusted ROCE
|
13.4%
|
23.4%
|
Average capital employed figures
are derived using the following closing balance sheet
values:
|
31 December
2023
|
30 June
2023
|
31
December
2022
|
30 June
2022
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Net debt
|
100,616
|
89,110
|
45,922
|
35,660
|
Equity
|
399,867
|
414,254
|
416,209
|
436,792
|
Less: Pension surplus
|
(9,832)
|
(10,488)
|
(15,194)
|
(56,219)
|
Capital employed
|
490,651
|
492,876
|
446,937
|
416,233
|
Adjusted effective tax rate
The Group presents an adjusted
effective tax rate (Adjusted ETR) within its Financial Review. This
is disclosed in order to provide users of the financial statements
with a view of the rate of taxation borne by the Group adjusted for
exceptional items, fair value adjustments (being the amortisation
and depreciation on fair value uplifted assets), non-cash
interest and changes in taxation rates on deferred
taxation.
A reconciliation of the adjusted
ETR to the statutory UK rate of taxation is included in Note
6.
Cash flow related APMs
The Group presents an adjusted cash
flow statement within its Financial Review. This is disclosed in
order to provide users of the financial statements with a view of
the Group's operating cash generation before the impact of cash
flows associated with exceptional items (as set out in Note 5) and
with the inclusion of interest, lease payment and non-exceptional
property disposal related cash flows.
The Directors use this APM table to
allow shareholders to further understand the Group's cash flow
performance in the period, to facilitate comparison with future
years and to assess trends in financial performance. This table
contains a number of APMs, as described below and reconciled in the
following table.
Adjusted change in working
capital
Adjusted change in working capital
represents the statutory change in working capital less cash flows
associated with exceptional items arising in the year of £5.4
million (2022: adding back cash flows of £0.3 million).
Adjusted operating cash
flow
Adjusted operating cash flows are
the cash flows arising from operating activities adjusted to add
back cash flows relating to exceptional items of £4.6 million
(2022: less cash flows of £7.3 million) and the inclusion of cash
flows associated with interest income, proceeds from the sale of
property, plant and equipment, purchase of intangibles and lease
payments reclassified from investing or financing activities of
£12.8 million (2022: £6.8 million).
Cash conversion
Cash conversion is the ratio of
Adjusted operating cash flow (defined above) to Adjusted EBITDA
(defined above). The Directors believe this APM provides a useful
measure of the Group's efficiency of its cash management during the
period.
Adjusted free cash flow
Adjusted free cash flow represents
Adjusted operating cash flow (defined above) less total capital
expenditure. The Directors use the measure of Adjusted free cash
flow as a measure of the funds available to the Group for the
payment of distributions to shareholders, for use within M&A
activity and other investing and financing activities.
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Statutory
|
Exceptional
|
Reclassification
|
Adjusted
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
76,595
|
30,762
|
-
|
107,357
|
Change in working
capital
|
(31,636)
|
(5,355)
|
-
|
(36,991)
|
Impairment charges
|
20,599
|
(20,599)
|
-
|
-
|
Net interest
|
(6,035)
|
-
|
257
|
(5,778)
|
Tax
|
630
|
-
|
-
|
630
|
Post-employment
benefits
|
790
|
-
|
(1,081)
|
(291)
|
Other
|
(2,692)
|
(177)
|
(12,012)
|
(14,881)
|
Adjusted operating cash
flow
|
58,251
|
4,631
|
(12,836)
|
50,046
|
Cash conversion
|
|
|
|
47%
|
Total capex
|
(65,653)
|
-
|
-
|
(65,653)
|
Adjusted free cash flow
|
(7,402)
|
4,631
|
(12,836)
|
(15,607)
|
Year ended 31 December
2022
|
Statutory
|
Exceptional
|
Reclassification
|
Adjusted
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
146,115
|
(6,448)
|
-
|
139,667
|
Change in working
capital
|
(2,035)
|
267
|
-
|
(1,768)
|
Impairment charges
|
382
|
(382)
|
-
|
-
|
Net interest
|
(4,162)
|
-
|
(135)
|
(4,297)
|
Tax
|
(11,699)
|
-
|
-
|
(11,699)
|
Post-employment
benefits
|
(973)
|
-
|
(777)
|
(1,750)
|
Other
|
(5,554)
|
(705)
|
(5,882)
|
(12,141)
|
Adjusted operating cash
flow
|
122,074
|
(7,268)
|
(6,794)
|
108,012
|
Cash conversion
|
|
|
|
77%
|
Total capex
|
(58,354)
|
-
|
-
|
(58,354)
|
Adjusted free cash flow
|
63,720
|
(7,268)
|
(6,794)
|
49,658
|
4.
SEGMENT REPORTING
The Directors consider the Group's
reportable segments to be the Clay and Concrete
Divisions.
The key Group performance measure
is adjusted EBITDA, as detailed below, which is defined in Note 3.
The tables, below, present revenue and adjusted EBITDA and profit
before taxation for the Group's operating segments.
Included within the unallocated and
elimination columns in the tables below are costs including share
based payments and Group employment costs. Unallocated assets and
liabilities are pensions, taxation and certain centrally held
provisions. Eliminations represent the removal of inter-company
balances. Transactions between segments are carried out at arm's
length. There is no material inter-segmental revenue and no
aggregation of segments has been applied.
For all the periods presented, the
activities of Ibstock Futures were managed and reported as part of
the Clay Division. Consequently, the position and performance of
Ibstock Futures for all periods have been classified within the
Clay reportable segment.
|
Year
ended 31 December 2023
|
|
Clay
|
Concrete
|
Unallocated & elimination
|
Total
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total revenue
|
292,220
|
113,619
|
-
|
405,839
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
98,847
|
18,623
|
(10,113)
|
107,357
|
Adjusted EBITDA
margin
|
33.8%
|
16.4%
|
|
26.5%
|
Exceptional items impacting
operating profit (see Note 5)
|
(28,170)
|
(2,404)
|
(188)
|
(30,762)
|
Depreciation and amortisation pre
fair value uplift
|
(23,406)
|
(5,733)
|
(175)
|
(29,314)
|
Incremental depreciation and
amortisation following fair value uplift
|
(7,374)
|
(4,876)
|
-
|
(12,250)
|
Net finance costs
|
(2,015)
|
(569)
|
(2,380)
|
(4,964)
|
Profit/(loss) before tax
|
37,882
|
5,041
|
(12,856)
|
30,067
|
Taxation
|
|
|
|
(9,007)
|
Profit for the year
|
|
|
|
21,060
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated total assets
|
610,867
|
133,502
|
9,862
|
754,231
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated total liabilities
|
(174,062)
|
(46,127)
|
(134,175)
|
(354,364)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current assets
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated total intangible
assets
|
56,178
|
25,839
|
-
|
82,017
|
|
|
|
|
|
Property, plant and
equipment
|
389,165
|
51,235
|
-
|
440,400
|
|
|
|
|
|
Right-of-use assets
|
29,915
|
9,310
|
606
|
39,831
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
475,258
|
86,384
|
606
|
562,248
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total non-current asset additions
|
62,837
|
6,654
|
-
|
69,491
|
Included within revenue for the
year ended 31 December 2023 were £1.1 million of bill and hold
transactions in the Clay Division. At 31 December 2023, £1.1
million of inventory relating to these bill and hold transactions
remained on the Clay Division's premises. Additionally, £0.1
million of inventory related to bill and hold sales in previous
years remained on the Concrete Division's premises. The unallocated
segment balance includes the fair value of the Group's share-based
payments and associated taxes (£2.5 million), plc Board and other
plc employment costs (£5.4 million), pension costs (£1.1 million)
and legal/administrative expenses (£3.5 million). These costs have
been offset by research and development taxation credits (£2.4
million). During the current period, one customer accounted for
greater than 10% of Group revenues with £70.6 million of sales
across the Clay and Concrete Divisions.
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
Clay
|
Concrete
|
Unallocated & elimination
|
Total
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total revenue
|
369,193
|
143,693
|
-
|
512,886
|
Adjusted EBITDA
|
126,687
|
23,604
|
(10,624)
|
139,667
|
Adjusted EBITDA
margin
|
34.3%
|
16.4%
|
|
27.2%
|
Exceptional items impacting
operating profit (see Note 5)
|
6,222
|
56
|
-
|
6,278
|
Depreciation and amortisation pre
fair value uplift
|
(20,659)
|
(5,546)
|
(187)
|
(26,392)
|
Incremental depreciation and
amortisation following fair value uplift
|
(6,936)
|
(5,190)
|
-
|
(12,126)
|
Net finance costs
|
(366)
|
(430)
|
(1,867)
|
(2,663)
|
Profit/(loss) before tax
|
104,948
|
12,494
|
(12,678)
|
104,764
|
Taxation
|
|
|
|
(17,884)
|
Profit for the year
|
|
|
|
86,880
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated total assets
|
596,769
|
146,553
|
19,460
|
762,782
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated total liabilities
|
(183,079)
|
(52,172)
|
(111,322)
|
(346,573)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-current assets
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated total intangible
assets
|
60,945
|
29,297
|
-
|
90,242
|
|
|
|
|
|
Property, plant and
equipment
|
361,389
|
47,702
|
-
|
409,091
|
|
|
|
|
|
Right-of-use assets
|
20,869
|
10,419
|
190
|
31,478
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total non-current assets
|
443,203
|
87,418
|
190
|
530,811
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total non-current asset additions
|
70,118
|
8,713
|
131
|
78,962
|
Included within the revenue of our
Concrete operations during the year ended 31 December 2022 were
£0.1 million of bill and hold transactions. At 31 December 2022,
£0.4 million of inventory related to bill and hold sales in
previous years remained on the Group's premises. The unallocated
segment balance includes the fair value of the Group's share based
payments and associated taxes (£2.7 million), Plc Board and other
plc employment costs (£6.4 million), pension costs (£0.8 million)
and legal/administrative expenses (£2.8 million) These costs have
been offset by research and development taxation credits (£1.6
million). During the current period, one customer accounted for
greater than 10% of Group revenues with £80.6 million of sales
across the Clay and Concrete Divisions.
5.
EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Exceptional cost of
sales
|
|
|
Impairment charge - Property,
plant and equipment
|
(15,397)
|
(554)
|
Impairment charge - Right-of-use
assets
|
(1,181)
|
-
|
Impairment charge - working
capital
|
(4,022)
|
-
|
Total impairment charge
|
(20,600)
|
(554)
|
Redundancy costs
|
(7,470)
|
-
|
Other costs associated with
restructuring programme
|
(1,196)
|
(126)
|
Total exceptional cost of sales
|
(29,266)
|
(680)
|
|
|
|
Exceptional administrative
expenses:
|
|
|
Redundancy costs
|
(1,496)
|
-
|
Total exceptional administrative expenses
|
(1,496)
|
-
|
|
|
|
Exceptional profit on disposal of
property plant and equipment:
|
-
|
6,958
|
Exceptional items impacting operating
profit
|
(30,762)
|
6,278
|
Total exceptional items
|
(30,762)
|
6,278
|
Included within the current period
were the following exceptional items:
2023
Exceptional cost of sales
Impairment charges arising in the
current year related to the impairment of non-current assets and
working capital items at the Group's closed sites as set out in
Note 10. Due to the materiality and non-recurring nature of the
events giving rise to them, these costs have been categorised as
exceptional.
Exceptional redundancy costs relate
to employees engaged in production activities following the Group's
announced restructuring activity across the Clay and Concrete
Divisions. These costs have been categorised as exceptional due to
their materiality and the non-recurring nature of the events giving
rise to them.
Costs associated with the closure
of sites relate to other costs incurred as a result of the Group's
restructuring decisions during the year. These costs include closed
site security and decommissioning activities.
Exceptional administration expenses
Exceptional redundancy costs
arising in the current period relate to costs of redundancy of
employees within the Group's selling, general and administrative
("SG&A") functions following the Group's announced
restructuring in October 2023. The costs have been treated as
exceptional due to their materiality, and the non-recurring nature
of the event giving rise to them.
Cash flow on exceptional items
Exceptional cash cost of £10.2
million associated with the Group's rationalisation and closure of
sites as part of the restructuring plan, of which £4.6 million was
cash settled in the year as detailed in Note 3.
The exceptional non-cash charge of
£20.6 million comprising the impairments associated with the
Group's closure of sites as part of this plan as detailed in Note
11.
Tax on exceptional items
In the current year, impairment
charges arising on non-current assets are not tax deductible but
give rise to a deferred tax credit in the period. The impairment
charge on current assets and redundancy costs are treated as tax
deductible in the period. The total tax credit on exceptional items
is £7.0 million.
2022
Exceptional cost of sales
Impairment charge - property, plant and
equipment
The Group impaired the fixed assets
at Atlas as part of a restructuring programme in 2020. Upon making
the decision to redevelop the factory, a partial reversal of this
amount was recognised in 2021, based on an estimate of the assets
which were fit for continuing usage. As the redevelopment activity
at the Atlas site has continued, existing building assets have been
identified as unfit for usage, thereby requiring
replacement.
Accordingly, those assets that have
been identified as unfit for usage have been fully impaired in
2022. This impairment expense is, in effect, an adjustment to the
impairment reversal booked in 2021. As such, it is considered
appropriate to treat this adjustment on a basis consistent with the
corresponding entry in 2021.
Other costs associated with restructuring
programme
As part of the Group-wide
restructuring plan to upgrade the Group, the business announced
during 2020 a single coordinated plan to rationalise its sites.
This programme proceeded throughout 2021 and the costs, as
expected, concluded during the first half of 2022.
The Group incurred c£0.1m of net
residual costs relating to the sites subject to closure during the
2022 year. The net balance in the current period comprised rates
and other standing charges related to the former operations, partly
offset by savings from previously provided redundancy
schemes.
Exceptional profit on disposal of property, plant and
equipment
The Group completed the sale of
land and buildings at West Hoathly, Sussex in October 2022 for a
total consideration (net of costs and sales tax) of £7.8 million.
The combined book value of the site amounted to £0.8 million, which
had previously been disclosed with assets held for resale, leading
to a gross profit of £7.0 million recognised as an exceptional gain
in 2022.
In the prior year, the impairment
charge relating to property, plant and equipment was not tax
deductible but gave rise to a deferred tax credit in the
period.
The costs associated with the
closure of sites are tax deductible in the period.
The profit on disposal of property,
plant and equipment gave rise to a nil chargeable gain in the
period due to the effect of indexation allowance.
Cash flow on exceptional item
Exceptional cash impact comprising
cash inflow of £7.8 million associated with total consideration
from the sales of land and buildings and cash outflow of £0.1
million associated with the restructuring programme.
The exceptional non-cash charge of
£0.6 million comprising the impairments associated the property,
plant and equipment.
6.
TAXATION
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
|
Total statutory
£'000
|
Percentage
|
Exceptional and other
adjusting items
£'000
|
Percentage
|
Adjusted PBT
£'000
|
Percentage
|
Profit before tax
|
30,067
|
100%
|
42,186
|
100%
|
72,253
|
100%
|
Profit before tax multiplied by
the rate of corporation tax in the UK
|
7,067
|
23.50%
|
9,913
|
23.50%
|
16,980
|
23.50%
|
Effects of:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses not deductible / items
not taxable
|
1,175
|
3.91%
|
(278)
|
(0.66%)
|
897
|
1.24%
|
Permanent benefit of
super-deduction on capital expenditure
|
(292)
|
(0.97%)
|
-
|
-
|
(292)
|
(0.40%)
|
Changes in estimates relating to
prior periods
|
|
195
|
0.65%
|
-
|
-
|
195
|
0.27%
|
Changes in taxation rate on
deferred tax
|
|
862
|
2.87%
|
(862)
|
(2.04%)
|
-
|
-
|
Total taxation expense from continuing
operations
|
9,007
|
29.95%
|
8,773
|
20.80%
|
17,780
|
24.61%
|
Year ended 31 December
2022
|
|
Total statutory
£'000
|
Percentage
|
Exceptional and other
adjusting items
£'000
|
Percentage
|
Adjusted PBT
£'000
|
Percentage
|
Profit before tax
|
104,764
|
100%
|
4,473
|
100%
|
109,237
|
100%
|
Profit before tax multiplied by
the rate of corporation tax in the UK
|
19,905
|
19.00%
|
850
|
19.00%
|
20,755
|
19.00%
|
Effects of:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses not deductible / items
not taxable
|
(717)
|
(0.68%)
|
1,390
|
31.08%
|
673
|
0.61%
|
Permanent benefit of
super-deduction on capital expenditure
|
(1,741)
|
(1.66%)
|
-
|
-
|
(1,741)
|
(1.59%)
|
Changes in estimates relating to
prior periods
|
|
(1,658)
|
(1.58%)
|
-
|
-
|
(1,658)
|
(1.52%)
|
Changes in taxation rate on
deferred tax
|
|
2,095
|
2.00%
|
(2,095)
|
(46.84%)
|
-
|
-
|
Total taxation expense from continuing
operations
|
17,884
|
17.08%
|
145
|
3.24%
|
18,029
|
16.50%
|
7.
EARNINGS PER SHARE
The basic earnings per share
figures are calculated by dividing profit for the year attributable
to the parent shareholders by the weighted average number of
Ordinary Shares in issue during the year. The diluted earnings per
share figures allow for the dilutive effect of the conversion into
Ordinary Shares of the weighted average number of options
outstanding during the year. Where the average share price for the
year is lower than the option price the options become
anti-dilutive and are excluded from the calculation. The number of
shares used for the earnings per share calculation are as
follows:
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
(000s)
|
(000s)
|
Basic weighted average number of
Ordinary Shares
|
392,217
|
402,746
|
Effect of share incentive awards
and options
|
3,437
|
2,010
|
Diluted weighted average number of
Ordinary Shares
|
395,654
|
404,756
|
The calculation of adjusted
earnings per share is a key measurement used by management that is
not defined by IFRS. The adjusted earnings per share measures
should not be viewed in isolation, but rather treated as
supplementary information.
Adjusted earnings per share figures
are calculated as the Basic earnings per share adjusted for
exceptional items, fair value adjustments being the amortisation
and depreciation on fair value uplifted assets and non-cash
interest expenses. Adjustments are made net of the associated
taxation impact at the adjusted effective tax rate. A
reconciliation of the statutory profit to that used in the adjusted
earnings per share calculations is as follows:
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Profit for the year attributable to the parent
shareholders
|
21,060
|
86,908
|
Add back/(less) exceptional items
(Note 5)
|
30,762
|
(6,278)
|
Less tax credit on exceptional
items
|
(6,952)
|
(453)
|
Add back fair value
adjustments
|
12,250
|
12,126
|
Less tax credit on fair value
adjustments
|
(2,878)
|
(2,000)
|
Less net non-cash
interest
|
(826)
|
(1,376)
|
Add back tax expense on non-cash
interest
|
194
|
227
|
Add back impact of deferred
taxation rate change
|
844
|
2,095
|
Adjusted profit for the year attributable to the parent
shareholders
|
54,454
|
91,249
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
|
pence
|
pence
|
Basic EPS on profit for the year
|
5.4
|
21.6
|
Diluted EPS on profit for the year
|
5.3
|
21.5
|
Adjusted basic EPS on profit for the year
|
13.9
|
22.7
|
Adjusted diluted EPS on profit for the year
|
13.8
|
22.5
|
8.
BORROWINGS
|
31 December
2023
|
31
December
2022
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Current
|
|
|
Private Placement
|
333
|
436
|
Revolving Credit Facility
(RCF)
|
25,163
|
-
|
|
25,496
|
436
|
Non-current
|
|
|
Private Placement
|
98,992
|
99,769
|
Total borrowings
|
124,488
|
100,205
|
At current and prior year end, the
Group held £100 million of private placement notes from Pricoa
Private Capital, with maturities of between 2028 and 2033 and an
average total cost of funds of 2.19% (range 2.04% - 2.27%). The
agreement with Pricoa also contains an additional uncommitted shelf
facility of up to $88.1 million (or equivalent in available
currencies). The agreement contains debt covenant requirements of
leverage (net debt to adjusted EBITDA) and interest cover (adjusted
EBITDA to net finance charges) of no more than 3 times and at least
4 times, respectively, tested semi-annually on 30 June and 31
December in respect of the preceding 12-month period.
Additionally, a £125 million RCF
facility is held with a syndicate of five banks for an initial four
year period ending in November 2025, which was extended to November
2026 in the prior year. Interest is charged at a margin (depending
upon the ratio of net debt to Adjusted EBITDA) of between 160bps
and 260bps above SONIA, SOFR or EURIBOR according to the currency
of the borrowing. The facility also includes an additional £50
million uncommitted accordion facility. Based on current leverage,
the Group will pay interest under the RCF initially at a margin of
160bps which is expected to increase to a margin of 180bps in the
second quarter of 2024 as a result of an increase of the Group's
leverage. This facility contains debt covenant requirements that
align with those of the private placement with the same testing
frequency. As at 31 December 2023 the RCF was drawn down by £25.0
million (2022: £nil). As at the date of approval of these financial
statements, the drawn down amount had increased to £48.0
million.
The carrying value of financial
liabilities have been assessed as materially in line with their
fair values, with the exception of £100 million of private
placement notes. The fair value of these borrowings has been
assessed as £88.3 million (2022: £86.4 million).
No security is currently provided
over the Group's borrowings.
9.
PROVISIONS
|
31 December
2023
|
31
December
2022
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Restoration (i)
|
5,489
|
4,550
|
Dilapidations (ii)
|
4,620
|
3,910
|
Restructuring (iii)
|
5,037
|
-
|
Other (iv)
|
418
|
452
|
|
15,564
|
8,912
|
|
|
|
Current
|
6,002
|
1,613
|
Non-current
|
9,562
|
7,299
|
|
15,564
|
8,912
|
(i) The restoration provision
comprises obligations governing site remediation and improvement
costs to be incurred in compliance with applicable environmental
regulations together with constructive obligations stemming from
established practice once the sites have been fully utilised.
Provisions are based upon management's best estimate of the
ultimate cash outflows. The key estimates associated with
calculating the provision relate to the cost per acre to perform
the necessary remediation work as at the reporting date together
with determining the expected year of retirement. Climate change is
specifically considered at the planning stage of developments when
restoration provisions are initially estimated. This includes
projection of costs associated with future water management
requirements and the form of the ultimate expected restoration
activity. Other changes to legislation, including in relation to
climate change, are factored into the provisions when legislation
becomes enacted. Estimates are reviewed and updated annually based
on the total estimated available reserves and the expected mineral
extraction rates. Whilst an element of the total provision will
reverse in the medium-term (one to ten years), the majority of the
legal and constructive obligations applicable to mineral-bearing
land will unwind over a greater than twenty-year timeframe. In
discounting the related obligations, expected future cash outflows
have been determined with due regard to extraction status and
anticipated remaining life. Discount rates used are based upon UK
Government bond rates with similar maturities.
(ii) Provisions for dilapidations
arose as contingent liabilities recognised upon the business
combination in the period ended 31 December 2015. They are
recognised on a lease-by-lease basis and are based on the Group's
best estimate of the likely contractual cash outflows, which are
estimated to occur over the lease term. Third party valuation
experts are used periodically in the determination of the best
estimate of the contractual obligation, with expected cash flows
discounted based upon UK Government bond rates with similar
maturities.
(iii) The restructuring provision
comprised obligations arising from the completion of the Group's
review of operations during the second half of 2023, which involved
sites closures and associated redundancy costs. The key estimates
associated with the provision relate to redundancy costs per
impacted employee. All of the cost is expected to be incurred
within one year of the balance sheet date.
(iv) Other provisions include
provisions for legal and warranty claim costs, which are expected
to be incurred within one year of the balance sheet
date.
10. IMPAIRMENT
For tangible asset impairment
testing purposes, the Group has determined that each factory is a
separate Cash Generating Unit (CGU), with the exception of:
Leighton Buzzard and Stretton which are considered as one roofing
CGU; Bedford and Barnwell considered as one South fencing and
building CGU; and Thornley and Northwich considered as a North Rail
CGU in Concrete Segment. These combined CGUs are newly identified
CGUs in 2023 as each individual factory was identified as a
separate CGU in 2022. The changes to the CGUs are due to the
production and supply arrangements made in 2023.
For intangible asset impairment
testing, the Group has determined that each legal entity is a
separate CGU as this is the lowest level at which the intangible
assets can be directly attributed.
Following announcement of the
proposed cessation of production at Ravenhead and South Holmwood,
Gloucester and Hampshire in the Clay Division and Masoncrete and
Castle Dawson in Concrete Division, management performed detailed
impairment testing for the carrying value of the assets associated
with these sites.
Management determined the
recoverable amount based on the fair value less costs to disposal
("FVLCTD"). This assessment falls within level 3 of the fair value
hierarchy and was based on management's judgement that the assets
could not be sold for any value, this being the assumption the
recoverable amount is most sensitive to.
Determination of FVLCTD by
management reflected full impairment of all items of plant and
machinery, buildings, minerals and majority of working capital for
which management's assessment was that no alternative use, future
salvage value or disposal proceeds are expected for the impacted
assets.
However, management separately
apply the requirements of IAS 36 to the land on sites owned,
according to the accounting policy and concluded that the
recoverable amount for the land is expected to exceed the carrying
value, and hence these assets remain unimpaired.
This assessment of impairment
resulted in the recognition of an exceptional impairment charge of
£20.6 million within cost of sales within the Group's consolidated
income statement.
The impairment of assets valued at
historical cost impacted the Clay and Concrete operating segment of
the Group in the current period as follows:
|
Clay
|
Concrete
|
Total
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Buildings
|
5,333
|
195
|
5,528
|
Mineral reserves
|
2,262
|
-
|
2,262
|
Plant, machinery and
equipment
|
7,489
|
118
|
7,607
|
Working capital
|
3,921
|
101
|
4,022
|
ROU
|
1,074
|
107
|
1,181
|
Total
|
20,079
|
521
|
20,600
|
Additionally, management completed
detailed impairment testing based on value-in-use ("VIU"), for the
Group's other operating CGUs as at 31 December 2023.
The key assumption used within the
VIU calculation is noted below:
-
|
Management has used the latest
Board approved budget and strategic planning forecasts in its
estimated future cash flows, covering the period 2024 to 2028,
which includes assumptions regarding industry demand for the
Group's products. These forecasts assume a return to normalised
levels of industry demand for the Group's products (defined as a
level of demand in line with the 2022 year) over the medium
term.
|
Management is of the view that a
downside sensitivity, evaluated as an unforeseen material reduction
of greater than 10% in the long-term industry demand for the
Group's products (against a level of demand in line with the 2022
year) could lead to a risk of impairment of the Group's non-current
assets of between £15 million and £25 million.
The other assumptions used within
the VIU calculation are noted below:
1.
|
A pre-tax weighted average cost of
capital ("WACC") of 11%-15% was used within the VIU calculation
based on an externally derived rate and benchmarked against
industry peer group companies.
|
2.
|
Terminal growth rates of 2% were
used reflecting long term inflationary expectations and
management's past experience and expectations.
|
Management is of the view that no
reasonable movement in the other assumptions of the WACC or
terminal growth rate outlined would result in impairment of the
Group's non-current assets.
The cash flows include ongoing
capital expenditure required to maintain the productive capacity of
the network but exclude any growth capital initiatives not
committed.
The immediately quantifiable
impacts of climate change and costs expected to be incurred in
connection with our climate resilient plan, are included within the
budget and strategic plan, which have been used to support the
impairment reviews, with no material impact on cash flows. We also
expect any changes required due to physical risks arising from our
assessment of climate change would be covered by business-as-usual
site refurbishments and phased over multiple years. Therefore, the
related cash outflow would not have a material impact in any given
year. As a consequence, there has been no material impact in the
forecast cash flows used for impairment testing.
As a result of the detailed
impairment testing performed as at 31 December 2023 no further
impairment charges were recognised. No impairment reversals arose
during the year.
Goodwill
The Group's goodwill balance of
£4.1 million, arose on the acquisition of the Longley operations in
July 2019 (£3.0 million), acquisition of the Generix operation in
July 2022 (£0.9 million) and acquisition of Coltman in November
2023 (£0.2 million). Based upon management's detailed testing of
the recoverable value of the CGUs to which goodwill is allocated,
no impairment was indicated. Key assumptions used within the
testing of goodwill for impairment are consistent with those set
out above.
For the Longley CGU, a pre-tax
discount rate of 12.4% has been used, together with a long-term
growth rate of 2%. CGU-specific cash flows for the detailed
five-year time period used by management contain a revenue compound
growth rate of 11.4%.
Based on management's projections,
no reasonably possible change in key assumptions within the VIU
calculation supporting the impairment calculation could cause the
carrying value of goodwill to exceed its recoverable
amount.
11. NOTES TO THE GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT
|
Year ended 31 December
2023
|
Year
ended 31 December 2022
|
Cash flows from operating activities
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
Profit before taxation
|
30,067
|
104,764
|
Adjustments for:
|
|
|
Depreciation
|
34,626
|
31,579
|
Impairment of property plant and
equipment (Note5)
|
15,397
|
554
|
Impairment of right-of-use assets
(Note 5)
|
1,181
|
-
|
Impairment of working capital
(Note 5)
|
4,022
|
-
|
Amortisation of intangible
assets
|
6,938
|
6,939
|
Net finance costs
|
4,964
|
2,663
|
Gain on disposal of property,
plant and equipment
|
(1,957)
|
(6,541)
|
Research and development
expenditure credit
|
(2,427)
|
(1,560)
|
Share based payments
|
2,308
|
2,547
|
Post-employment
benefits
|
790
|
(973)
|
Other
|
(617)
|
(172)
|
|
95,292
|
139,800
|
Increase in inventory
|
(28,495)
|
(21,255)
|
Increase in debtors
|
28,298
|
(930)
|
Increase in creditors
|
(36,865)
|
20,650
|
Decrease in provisions
|
5,426
|
(500)
|
Cash generated from operations
|
63,656
|
137,765
|
12. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
IFRS 13 'Financial Instruments:
Disclosures' requires fair value measurements to be recognised
using a fair value hierarchy that reflects the significance of the
inputs used in the measurements, according to the following
levels:
Level 1 - Unadjusted quoted prices
in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2 - Inputs other than quoted
prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or
liability, either directly (that is, as prices) or indirectly (that
is, derived from prices).
Level 3 - Inputs for the asset or
liability that are not based on observable market data (that is,
unobservable inputs).
At 31 December 2023 and 31 December
2022, the Group's fair value measurements were categorised as Level
2, except for (i) quoted investments within the Group's pension
schemes, which were valued as Level 1 and (ii) the insured
pensioner and deferred pensioner asset, which was categorised as a
Level 3 valuation and uses assumptions set out in Note 13 to align
its valuation to the related liability.
The Group entered into forward
currency contracts as cash flow hedges to manage its exposure to
foreign currency fluctuations associated with the future purchases
of plant and equipment required for the construction of major
capital expenditure projects. These instruments are measured at
fair value using Level 2 valuation techniques subsequent to initial
recognition.
At 31 December, a liability valued
at £0.1 million (31 December 2022: an asset of £0.6 million) was
recognised for these derivative financial instruments.
At 31 December 2023 and 31 December
2022, the Group held no other significant derivative financial
instruments. There were no transfers between levels during any
period disclosed.
The carrying value of the Group's
short-term receivables and payables is a reasonable approximation
of their fair values. The fair value of all other financial
instruments carried within the Group's financial statements is not
materially different from their carrying amount, with the exception
of £100 million of private placement notes. The fair value of these
borrowings has been assessed as £88.3 million (2022: £86.4
million).
13. POST EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
The Group participates in the
Ibstock Pension Scheme (the 'Scheme'), a defined benefit pension
scheme in the UK. During the year ended 31 December 2023, the
opening Scheme surplus of £15.2 million decreased to a closing
surplus of £9.8 million. Analysis of the movements during the year
ended 31 December 2023 was as follows:
|
£'000
|
Scheme surplus at 1 January
2023
|
15,194
|
Administration expenses
|
(1,082)
|
Interest income
|
711
|
Remeasurement due to:
|
|
- Change in financial
assumptions
|
(9,272)
|
- Change in demographic
assumptions
|
5,217
|
- Experience losses
|
(6,476)
|
- Return on plan assets
|
5,248
|
Company contributions
|
292
|
Scheme surplus at 31 December 2023
|
9,832
|
On 20 December 2022, the Scheme
completed a full buy-in transaction with a specialist third-party
provider, which represented a significant step in the Group's
continuing strategy of de-risking its pensions exposure. This
transaction, together with the partial buy-in transaction in 2020
insured the majority of the Group's defined benefit liabilities. As
a result, the insured asset and the corresponding liabilities of
the Scheme are assumed to be broadly matched without exposure to
interest rate, inflation risk or longevity risk. However, there is
a residual risk that the insurance premium may be increased
following a data cleanse to reflect a more accurate liability
position. If the surplus Scheme assets are insufficient to meet any
additional premium, then the company may need to pay an additional
contribution into the Scheme.
The cover for current deferred
pensioners at the date of the transaction attracted a total buy-in
premium of £175.6 million. The initial premium payment of £81.3
million was settled on 28 December 2022 by the transfer of certain
Scheme-invested assets. The remaining premia were settled in
three instalments, with the final instalment paid in August
2023.
The financial assumptions used by
the actuary have been derived using a methodology consistent with
the approach used to prepare the accounting disclosures at 31
December 2022. The assumptions have been updated based on market
conditions at 31 December 2023:
|
31 December
2023
|
31 December
2022
|
|
Per annum
|
Per annum
|
Discount rate
|
4.55%
|
4.80%
|
RPI inflation
|
3.10%
|
3.20%
|
CPI inflation
|
2.50%
|
2.60%
|
Rate of increase in pensions in
payment
|
3.60%
|
3.65%
|
Commutation factors
|
21.20
|
18.60
|
|
|
|
Mortality assumptions: life
expectancy from age 65
|
|
|
For a male currently aged
65
|
21.4
years
|
21.9
years
|
For a female currently aged
65
|
24.1
years
|
24.5
years
|
For a male currently aged
40
|
23.1
years
|
23.6
years
|
For a female currently aged
40
|
25.9
years
|
26.4
years
|
In light of the fact that the
pension scheme was in a net surplus position after the full buy-in,
the Trustees and the Group have agreed that the Group would suspend
paying contributions with effect from 1 March 2023.
14. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS
On 30 November 2023, the Group
acquired 100% of the share capital of Valerie Coltman Holdings
Limited and its subsidiary Coltman Precast Concrete Limited. The
acquisition of the Coltman business will expand the Group's
Concrete segment and supports further growth in precast and
prestressed concrete business. The headline price for the
acquisition was £3.4 million. The net cash paid in 2023 totalled
£2.7 million (comprising gross payments of £5.2 million less cash
acquired of £2.5 million). This net payment of £2.7 million
excluded £0.7 million of the headline consideration, withheld ahead
of finalisation of closing adjustments, expected to be concluded
during the first half of the 2024 year.
The goodwill of £0.2 million
was attributable to the workforce and reflected the profitable
nature of the acquired business. It was not deductible for tax
purposes.
On 29 July 2022, the Group acquired
75% of the share capital of Generix Facades Limited with total
consideration of £1.1 million, of which £0.1 million was deferred
and paid in July 2023. In December 2023, the Group acquired the
remaining 25% of share capital for a consideration of £0.3
million.
Management has reviewed the
assessment of fair values attributable to the acquired identifiable
assets and concluded that no further fair value adjustments are
required.
15. OTHER RESERVES
|
Cash
flow hedging reserve
|
Merger
reserve
|
Own
shares held
|
Treasury
shares
|
Total
other reserves
|
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
£'000
|
At 1 January 2023
|
418
|
(369,119)
|
(1,589)
|
(30,000)
|
(400,290)
|
Other comprehensive
expense
|
(443)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(443)
|
Issue of own shares held on
exercise of share options
|
-
|
-
|
1,075
|
-
|
1,075
|
At 31 December 2023
|
(25)
|
(369,119)
|
(514)
|
(30,000)
|
(399,658)
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
At 1 January 2022
|
(74)
|
(369,119)
|
(1,741)
|
-
|
(370,934)
|
Other comprehensive
income
|
492
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
492
|
Shares purchased - share buyback
scheme
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(30,000)
|
(30,000)
|
Issue of own shares held on
exercise of share options
|
-
|
-
|
152
|
-
|
152
|
At 31 December 2022
|
418
|
(369,119)
|
(1,589)
|
(30,000)
|
(400,290)
|
Cash flow hedging reserve
The cash flow hedging reserve
records movements for effective cash flow hedges measured at fair
value. The accumulated balance in the cash flow hedging reserve
will be reclassified to the cost of the designated hedged item in a
future period.
Merger reserve
The merger reserve of £369.1
million arose on the acquisition of Figgs Topco Limited by Ibstock
plc in the period ended 31 December 2015 and is the difference
between the share capital and share premium of Figgs Topco Limited
and the nominal value of the investment and preference shares in
Figgs Topco Limited acquired by the Company.
Own shares held
The Group's holding in its own
equity instruments is shown as a deduction from shareholders'
equity at cost totalling £0.5 million at 31 December 2023 (31
December 2022: £1.6 million). These shares represent shares held in
the Employee Benefit Trust to meet the future requirements of the
employee share based payment plans. Consideration, if any, received
for the sale of such shares is also recognised in equity with any
difference between the proceeds from sale and the original cost
being taken to the profit and loss reserve. No gain or loss is
recognised in the income statement on the purchase, sale, issue or
cancellation of equity shares.
Treasury share reserve
The Treasury share reserve
represents shares acquired by the Group as part of its share
buyback programme in 2022.
In 2022, the Group engaged its
brokers to purchase up to £30.0 million of shares on the open
market on its behalf. These shares are held by the Group to meet
future requirements of employee share based payment plans. At 31
December 2023, the Treasury shares reserve contained 16,791,470
shares.
16. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
There were no related party
transactions nor any related party balances in either the 2023 or
2022 financial year.
17. DIVIDENDS PAID AND PROPOSED
The Directors are proposing a final
dividend in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2023 of
3.6 pence (2022: 5.5 pence) per Ordinary
Share, which will distribute an estimated
£14.1 million (2022: £21.6 million) of shareholders' funds.
Subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting, this will be
paid on 31 May 2024, to shareholders on the register at the close
of business on 10 May 2023.
These condensed consolidated
financial statements do not reflect the 2023 final dividend
declared.
18. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS
Except for the proposed ordinary
dividend (see Note 17), no further subsequent events requiring
either disclosure or adjustment to these financial statements have
arisen since the balance sheet date.
1 Alternative Performance measures are described in Note 3 to
this results announcement
2 UK domestic brick deliveries in 2023 reduced by 30% compared
to the prior year (Source: UK Department for Business and Trade
Monthly Bulletin)