Brickmaker Wienerberger posts first full-year profit in four years

Austrian building materials group Wienerberger AG on Wednesday posted its first full-year net profit in four years, helped by solid demand for single- and two-family houses in Britain and the Netherlands.

The world's biggest brickmaker reported a 2015 net profit of 36.5 million euros ($40.2 million), far exceeding an average analyst forecast of 25.4 million euros in a Reuters poll.

Full-year revenue reached 2.97 billion euros, in line with expectations.

The company said it will propose a dividend of 0.20 euros per share for 2015.

After years of restructuring during which Wienerberger diversified from a pure brick maker and managed to gain leading positions as a plastic and ceramic pipes producer, Chief Executive Heimo Scheuch said he expects revenue and earnings to grow further in coming years.

The goal for 2016 operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was 405 million euros after 370 million in 2015, Scheuch told journalists late on Tuesday.

By 2020, Wienerberger aims for an operating EBITDA "well above" 600 million euros on revenue of more than 4 billion.

"As we continued to enhance diversification in 2015, we now have the chance to grow organically in markets which used to be characterized by stagnation and decline", Scheuch said.

Last year's earnings benefited from an increasing demand for new homes in the Netherlands and higher prices in its key market Britain.

A British decision to leave the European Union would have grave consequences for residential construction in the country, Scheuch said.

"England relies on workers from EU countries," he said. "In construction, in the service sector; everyone who knows his way around England knows that a lot of people are out and about there." ($1 = 0.9081 euro) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle, editing by G Crosse)

Source Reuters