Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC said on Tuesday that ‘challenging market conditions’ have led to a fall in profit, despite growing order intakes.

The West Sussex, England-based brick maker said its revenue for the six months ended June 30 was £35.4 million, a 15.7% fall from the £42.0 million reported last year. Pretax profit fell 33% to £4.1 million from £6.1 million.

But despite the sector-wide decline in UK brick despatches over the last 18 months, Michelmersh Brick reported that its current order intake is running ahead of its manufacturing capacity, contributing to a growing quality forward order book that will underpin its second half revenue expectations.

Michelmersh Brick said that given uncertainty around potential reductions in interest rates, it is expecting its second half to be broadly reflective of its first half.

The company declared an interim dividend of 1.60 pence per share, rising 6.7% year on year from 1.50p.

Chair Tony Morris said: ‘Despite the challenges the wider construction industry and UK brick market continue to face, the group has been able to deliver a resilient first half performance, growing our market share at a time when UK brick volumes are off c.40% over the last 18 months. With the strength of our balance sheet and net cash position, we are positioned well to trade through the ongoing challenging market conditions and as a result expect our second half performance to be broadly in line with our interim results.’

Shares in Michelmersh Brick Holdings fell 5.3% to 98.44 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.