Michelmersh Brick Holdings was established in November 1997 to enable the acquisition of Michelmersh Brick & Tile and Dunton Brothers.

Dunton makes traditional bricks at Ley Hill, Buckinghamshire and Michelmersh Brick & Tile is a long established business manufacturing premium quality bricks and tiles operating from a site near Romsey, Hampshire.

In February 1999, the business of Charnwood was acquired in Leicestershire. Charnwood has an excellent reputation for high quality handmade bricks for building and restoration projects. Charnwood Bricks were recently used in the restoration of St Pancras Station.

In February 2000, the Company acquired Blockleys in Telford, the leading producer of specification wire cut bricks and clay pavers. The 100 acre site also includes a quarry and landfill operation and some 80 acres of land on which a phased residential redevelopment scheme has been approved in outline by the local planning authority.

The Group has consistently invested in its plant to maximise the efficiency and quality of its product.

In 2004 shares were offered to the public as the business was successfully floated on the AIM Market.

In 2009 Hathern Terra cotta was established at our Charnwood plant continuing over 100 years of tradition in the manufacture of faience. Already work has been won at the Savoy Hotel and Victoria and Albert Museum.

Our most recent acquisition is Freshfield Lane Brickworks, the leading manufacturer of clamp-fired stock bricks based near Haywards Heath. The business has built a strong reputation for excellence in the production of distinctive, clamp fired, multi-coloured stock facing bricks and pavers targeted at the niche premium segment of the market.

The Group now employs over 300 people at its five plants and has an annual capacity of some 70 million pieces.

The latest acquisition has reinforced our position as Britain's Brick Specialists. Our skills, service, range of products and well invested plant combine to provide distinctive products not only that we can be proud of, but that also give value and pleasure to our customers, those involved in design and construction and to generations to come.


http://www.mbhplc.co.uk/about-us

Trading Update

RNS


RNS Number : 6917Z

Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC

15 December 2014




Michelmersh Brick Holdings Plc

("MBH" or the "Group")



POSITIVE TRADING UPDATE

Notice of Results

Block Listing



Michelmersh Brick Holdings Plc (AIM: MBH), the specialist brick manufacturer and landfill company, today reports to the market on strong trading performance in advance of the Group's Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2014, which is scheduled for release on 23 March 2015.



The Board is pleased to announce that strong trading conditions have continued late into 2014 and both brick volumes and selling prices are better than expected. As a consequence, the Group is likely to exceed the market expectations of turnover and profit before taxation for the year.



The project to increase production capacity at Freshfield Lane is almost complete and will increase the Group's output from the first quarter of 2015.



Further to the Block Listing application reported in June 2014, 405,444 ordinary shares of 20 pence each have been issued in connection with the Michelmersh Brick Holdings Plc Sharesave Scheme. As at today, there are 81,234,656 ordinary shares in issue. No shares are held in treasury and so the total number of current voting rights is therefore 81,234,656.

IC - With demand outstripping supply, there is scope for a further increase in brick prices and output, and some serious operational gearing could be set to kick in.

One of three companies picked by midas this week -

Michelmersh Brick Holdings was founded in 1989 by Eric Gadsden and Martin Warner, who remain chairman and chief executive to this day. The company makes top quality bricks, used in buildings such as London’s St Pancras station, the Holiday Inn in Manchester and high value homes around the country.



Strong foundation: Brickmaker Michelmersh makes top quality bricks used in buildings such as London's St Pancras station



The shares are 70½p and should benefit from economic growth and persistent demand for decent housing. The brick industry spent many years suffering from oversupply.

Now, however, the market has completely changed. The UK needs more bricks than it can make and has been forced to start importing stock from countries such as Belgium and Holland.

This has had a dramatic impact on Michelmersh. During the recession, it was forced to lay off staff and close down some operations. It survived largely by supplying bricks for renovation projects, but times were tough and the group stopped paying a dividend in 2009.

Last year, by contrast, the company was operating at full tilt. Prices were raised for the first time in years and Gadsden and Warner were forced to raid their stockpile to satisfy demand. Just before Christmas, they said that profits for 2014 would be better than expected and the outlook for this year is promising.

Political uncertainty may affect construction activity but houses still need to be built and Michelmersh is one of the best brick makers in Britain, with a reputation for quality and aesthetic appeal.

The group is also making money from selling surplus land to housebuilders and that should continue this year.

Michelmersh will be updating the market on trading in January and reporting figures for 2014 in March. Analysts expect a surge in profits from £200,000 in 2013 to £2.8million for last year.

There is also an expectation that the company will resume dividend payments in the current year.

Midas verdict: Michelmersh is a small but well formed brick maker, which has survived the downturn and emerged stronger than ever. Buy

Michelmersh Brick has all the building blocks for further growth

By Ian Lyall

February 13 2015, 1:33pm




http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/77264/michelmersh-brick-has-all-the-building-blocks-for-further-growth-77264.html

I'm not sure where I read this earlier but :-

Proposal to build 1m new homes in next 10 years

Thanks for the info skinny. All bodes well for (MBH).

Just reading in IC - the UK has taken a long time to run down the 1.2 billion bricks stock piled during the recession. With demand now rising, Michelmersh has been able to push through double digit price increases. And the recent collapse in gas prices will help to reduce its energy costs significantly.

i have earmarked this one for my sipp, but have yet to activate

Activate then. :-))

Finals Mon 23 March

assuredly this isn't a trading stock as volumes are tiny, spread is wide and controlled by just a few MMs
have been toying for a while with putting some in my sipp as i think this has to be almost a forgotten gem

Final results


Financial Highlights

· Turnover up 10% to £28.5 million (2013: £25.9million);

· Operating profit of £2.8 million (2013: 1.4 million), the best result since the business floated in 2004;

· Net debt further reduced from £4.2 million to £2.1 million;

· Capital expenditure of just over £2 million for Freshfield Lane expansion project and completion of Telford reorganisation; and

· Dividend reinstated - 0.5 pence per share payable for the period.

Operational Highlights

· Strong progress in an improved market place;

· 70 million bricks sold in the period and production of 67.5 million;

· Average selling prices increased 13.5% on prior year prices;

· January 2014 saw the commencement of the 20% expansion project at Freshfield Lane which has now been completed, extending capacity at the plant by 6 million bricks;

· New products launched and awards won such as 'Best Public building' for the East Ham Customer Service Centre & Library at the BDA awards;

· Application for 200 houses at the Charnwood site was submitted at the end of 2014; and

· Planning consent confirmed for additional clay extraction at Michelmersh site.

MBH = Michelmersh
not sure quite how, but just managed to buy some of these for my sipp at £0.704 which is well under MM quote on IG

IC - With the UK demand for bricks now outstripping supply , Michelmersh is in a sweet spot. Given the growth potential, we remain bullish.

it's certainly not one for trading, not least because the spread is usually very wide
however, with both labour and conservatives committed to building an awful lot more houses in the coming years, this made a good candidate for my sipp

Shares - The groups completion in Feb of its £2.2 million of its Freshfields expansion means plant capacity has been upped by 20% and Michelmersh now has capacity of producing 36 million bricks per annum. 'A generational oversupply of bricks has come to an end and the market is now reliant on increasing levels of imports,' says Michelmersh chairman Eric Gadsen. What this means is that bricks are no longer as easily available in inventory and delivery lead-in times are lengthening. It is against this backdrop that Michelmersh has achieved price increases to the tune of 13.5% in 2014 with average selling prices reaching £395 per thousand as for the first time in perhaps decades.

How many bricks does it take to build an average house? I am not interested enough to go out and count them but if anyone knows off the cuff it would be appreciated.
2517

Your not an accountant are you. lol Sort of question that one would ask. :-))

A uk house built in Lego bricks. :-))

Buying enough to build the shell of a new build UK home, which on average has an area of about 79 sq m (850 sq ft), would cost about £1.1m. Far more than the average price of £199,016 for a semi-detached house built of real bricks.

60 bricks per sq mtr

No not an accountant dc, and thanks.
2517