Materials business sees profit nearly halved

Profit at materials distributor BRCK fell by nearly half last year, the company said in its full-year results this morning.

The listed firm, which was the subject of a failed bid to buy it earlier this year by Atlas Holdings, the private equity owner of Bovis, said pre-tax profit was down 46% to £6.3m on revenue which edged up 1% to £645m in the year to March.

But chief executive Frank Hanna shrugged off the profit fall and said: “The Group’s performance is testament to the strength of our diversified, capital-light business model which has delivered growth despite the slower than expected improvement in housebuilding activity, a subdued repair, maintenance and improvement market and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.”

BRCK, which was known as Brickability, rebuffed Atlas Holdings’ 65p a share offer at the end of March.