Australia's Brickworks swings to annual loss as building activity declines (updated)

Brickworks

26/09/2024 24:45

(Adds details on results, CEO comment from paragraph 2)
       Sept 26 (Reuters) - Australia's largest brick
manufacturer Brickworks  BKW.AX  swung to a full-year loss on
Thursday, hurt by impairments related to its property and
building products segments amid a decline in building activity
across its key markets.
    The company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of A$135
million ($92.08 million) relating to its Austral Masonry and
Brickworks North America businesses.
    Brickworks scaled back production due to weaker demand,
resulting in a delay in realising the benefits of investments
and plant rationalisation activities.
    "We are now moving through a cyclical low in building
activity, with residential approvals in Australia at the lowest
level for more than a decade," Brickworks CEO Mark Ellenor said
in a statement.
    "As such, we are planning temporary plant closures
throughout FY25 to undertake maintenance and control inventory."
    Brickworks reported a statutory net loss after tax of
A$118.9 million for the year ended July 31, compared to a profit
of A$394.7 million a year earlier.
    It declared a final dividend of 43 Australian cents per
share, higher than the 42 cents declared a year ago. 
    

($1 = 1.4661 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta and Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com))