(Alliance News) - Forterra PLC said on Thursday it delivered results ahead of expectations in 2021, returning to a profit and recording a notable revenue rise.
In 2021, the Northhampton, England-based building product manufacturer reported a pretax profit of GBP56.8 million, swinging sharply from a loss of GBP5.4 million the previous year.
Revenue rose 27% to GBP370.4 million from GBP291.9 million year-on-year. However, revenue was down 2.5% from GBP380 million in 2019.
The company said its markets recovered strongly from the effects of the pandemic with UK clay brick demand now similar to 2019 levels. Brick and Block revenue stood at GBP298.1 million, represent an increase of 34% on GBP223.1 million the previous and a 6.8% increase on GBP279.1 million in 2019.
Forterra proposed a final dividend of 6.7 pence per share, up from 2.8p the previous year. This brings the company's total dividend for 2021 to 9.9p, multiplied from 2.8p in 2020.
Chief Executive Stephen Harrison said: "We delivered a good financial performance in 2021, with strong trading throughout the year and full year results slightly ahead of expectations. Our markets continued to recover from the effects of the pandemic, with our brick sales volumes similar to 2019 and further growth only limited by production capacity and available inventory."
Shares in Forterra were down 0.9% at 221.50 pence on Thursday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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