REG - Forterra plc - AGM Trading Update

ForterraAnnouncement

Today 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260519:nRSS8013Ea&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 8013E  Forterra plc  19 May 2026

19 May 2026

FORTERRA PLC

 

AGM Trading Update

 

Ahead of our AGM, which will be held today at 12.00pm, Forterra plc (the
'Group'), a leading UK manufacturer of essential clay and concrete building
products, provides a trading update for the four-month period ended 30 April
2026 ('the Period').

 

Trading conditions in the Period remained challenging, although there has been
some improvement following the particularly wet start to the year. On a like
for like basis, adjusting for the closure of the non-core businesses in the
second half of 2025, revenue in the Period decreased by 11% relative to the
prior year.

 

Domestic industry brick despatches for the first quarter, as published by the
Department for Business and Trade, show an 11% reduction relative to the prior
year. Our brick market share remains in line with the levels seen towards the
end of 2025.

 

As anticipated, low to mid single-digit brick price increases, sufficient to
recover the levels of cost inflation envisaged at the time, were successfully
implemented in the first quarter.

 

However, the ongoing crisis in the Middle East has created further challenges
for our business, with additional cost inflation driven by significant
increases in the cost of diesel, transport services and natural gas. The
impact of the increased cost of gas is however mitigated by our forward
purchasing strategy, with around 80% of our requirements for the remainder of
the year secured at pre-crisis pricing.

 

Whilst our forward purchasing of gas insulated us from the higher prices in
March, we have rescheduled some production from April until the second half of
the year in order to manage our gas cost. Assuming market conditions allow, we
plan to recover this production in the second half of the year, which will
increase the second half weighting of our full-year result.

 

In response to this additional cost inflation, we have implemented surcharges
on our concrete products and announced brick pricing surcharges to take effect
from 1 June 2026.

 

Whilst events in the Middle East and the associated macro-economic and supply
chain risks do not appear to have materially impacted demand for our products
to date, we remain mindful as to the potential impact of higher borrowing
costs on demand for housing and therefore our products.  With the elevated
uncertainty we presently face, forecasting how the second half of the year
will evolve has become more challenging, leading to a greater range of
potential full year outcomes than previously anticipated.

 

The Board remain confident that following our recent investments in new
production capacity, the Group remains well placed to capitalise when our
markets return to growth.

 

 

ENQUIRIES

 

Forterra plc                +44 1604 707 600

Neil Ash, Chief Executive Officer

Ben Guyatt, Chief Financial Officer

 

FTI Consulting          +44 203 727 1340

Richard Mountain / Victoria Hayns

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTUWVBRNOUVAAR



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved