Strong strategic progress as we continue to invest in our future growth

• Major capital investment projects close to completion, with capacity in place for the market recovery
• Production at our new Atlas factory ramping up well. Atlas adds over 100 million new low cost, efficient and more sustainable brick manufacturing capacity to our network and produces our lowest embodied carbon bricks to date, including our first ever Carbon Neutral® certified bricks
• Customer deliveries of brick slips from the new automated cutting line at Nostell commenced during the second half of 2024. Phase two of the project, the construction of a larger brick slip systems factory, is progressing towards commissioning by the end of 2025, as planned
• Creation of a unified, enterprise-wide new product development team successfully accelerating the pace of product innovation - proportion of revenues from new and sustainable products increased to 22% in 2024 (2023: 11%)
• Decision to restructure our Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC) business taken in the final quarter of 2024
  Integration of Coltman flooring business now complete, enabling provision of a full UK flooring offer
• Good progress towards our 2030 ESG targets: further progress in carbon reduction (on both a network and per unit basis), and launch of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), becoming one of the first UK building materials manufacturers to enhance environmental transparency in this way
• Discussions with potential commercial partners on green energy and calcined clay projects progressing well
• Continued growth in our sector-leading apprenticeship programme; Group awarded Earn & Learn Gold Award from the 5% Club recognising our investment in future talent

Current trading and outlook

• Trading in the early weeks of 2025 year has been solid, with sales volumes, as anticipated, ahead of the comparative period
• Improvement in market volumes expected in 2025, with momentum building through the year
• The Group is continuing to invest selectively to bring capacity back into the network where continued demand improvement is anticipated
• In line with its established strategy, the Group has currently secured around two-thirds of its energy requirements for 2025, with this cover being front-end loaded
• With the benefit of volume increases, the Group expects to make good progress in 2025, with performance weighted towards the second half
• With its capital investment programme now substantially complete, Ibstock has lower cost, more efficient and sustainable capacity in place to respond to increases in market activity - at full capacity, the upgraded clay factory network can operate at roughly double the levels of brick output delivered in 2024
• From the foundation of a robust balance sheet, the Group’s anticipated strong free cash flows will provide a solid platform for growth and shareholder returns in the years ahead

“Our continued focus on the active management of capacity and margin ensured we delivered a resilient performance in 2024. As expected, we saw a progressive improvement in sales volumes through the second half with demand supported by our leading service and supply proposition. The effective management of pricing and volumes throughout the year underpinned resilient margins combined with market share gains through the latter part of the 2024 year.

“Against this backdrop, I am also pleased to report strong progress against all elements of the Group’s strategy with lower cost, more efficient and sustainable capacity in place to support market recovery, and continued progress towards our ambitious sustainability targets.

“We expect an improvement in market volumes in 2025, with momentum building through the year. Ibstock is well-positioned for a market recovery, and the fundamental drivers of demand in our markets remain firmly in place. We see a significant opportunity for a new era in housebuilding in the UK and with the investments we have made and our market leadership positions, the Group remains well placed to support and benefit from this over the medium term.”