Breedon Aggregates Limited - Annual Results 2015

Breedon Aggregates, the UK’s leading independent aggregates business has announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2015.

                                                2015                     2014                Change

Revenue                                  £318.5 million     £269.7 million     +18.1%
Underlying EBIT†                    £37.8 million       £24.3 million       +55.5%
Profit before tax                      £31.3 million        £21.4 million       +46.4%
Underlying basic EPS†              2.68 pence         1.64 pence        +63.4%
Net cash/(debt)                       £10.3 million       (£66.3) million     +£76.6m

† Underlying results are stated before acquisition related expenses, redundancy and reorganisation costs, property items, amortisation of acquisition intangibles and related tax items. References to an underlying profit measure throughout this Announcement are defined on this basis.

8.7 million tonnes of aggregates sold (2014: 7.7 million tonnes)
1.8 million tonnes of asphalt sold (2014: 1.5 million tonnes)
0.9 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete sold (2014: 0.8 million cubic metres)

Highlights

• Continued improvement in trading performance, with record results from both England and Scotland
• Underlying EBIT margin up 2.9ppt to 11.9%
• £20+ million invested in capital projects 
• Our largest-ever contract finalised: £55 million contract on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, in joint venture
• Performance of 2014 acquisitions ahead of our expectations, particularly the former Barr business
• Agreement to acquire Hope Construction Materials Limited for £336m, subject to CMA approval: our largest acquisition to date
• Outlook continues to be encouraging

Peter Tom, Executive Chairman, commented, “2015 was another significant year for Breedon. Our trading performance continued to improve and we again reported record results. We finalised our largest ever contract win and announced the planned acquisition of Hope Construction Materials. We are tremendously excited by the future potential for this business.

“Early in 2016 we were joined by our new Group Chief Executive, Pat Ward, whom I would like to once again warmly welcome to Breedon Aggregates. He succeeded Simon Vivian, who oversaw the successful development of the Group during its first five years and will continue to serve as a non-executive director.

“The outlook for our business continues to be encouraging. The Government remains committed to infrastructure investment and all the relevant forecasting bodies predict modest but sustained growth in construction output over the next few years. This means a steady growth in demand for our products. Against this background, volumes are expected to recover gradually to pre-recession levels by 2020.

“We begin an exciting new era in 2016 with the planned acquisition of Hope and we look forward to the future with confidence.”