For the year ended 31st December 2018, Forterra (previously Hanson Building Products) grew revenue 11% to £367.5m – helped by the September acquisition of Bison – and pre-tax profit by 9% to £64.8m.
Profits were boosted by a £1.3m tax credit on the back of the company’s research and development (R&D) expenditure.
Revenue growth was partly due to sales growth and partly due to price increases that were applied across all product ranges to cover increases in the operating cost base.
Chief executive Stephen Harrison said: "2018 was a year of good progress for the group, with a strong performance from the Bricks and Blocks businesses and the integration of Bison gaining traction following a slow start. We also approved a £95m investment to build a new brick manufacturing facility that will increase our existing capacity by 16%.
"Trading in the current year has been in line with our expectations. The improvement in productivity seen at Bison Precast in the last quarter has been sustained into the first two months of 2019 and the business is performing well. As anticipated, price increases have now been agreed with most customers in order to cover the increase in our cost base. Based on our current order book and indications from major customers, the Board's expectations for 2019 are unchanged.”
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