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Breedon Group PLC on Wednesday said it remained confident in its medium-term prospects despite forecasting full-year profit will be at the low-end of market expectations. In response, shares in the Leicestershire, England-based building materials company fell 8.7% to 354.20 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. Pretax profit fell 25% to £34.9 million in the six months to June 30 from £46.5 million a year prior. Revenue rose 6.7% to £815.9 million from £764.6 million a year ago, with growth driven by the acquisition of Lionmark. Like-for-like revenue decreased by 3% with volume and mix down 4% due to challenging markets in Great Britain, major project delays in Ireland and adverse US weather conditions. Pricing was stable, particularly in the US, backed by strong order backlogs and enquiries in key markets. Basic earnings per share decreased 20% to 8.0 pence from 10.0p. Breedon said given the ‘difficult’ first half and the macroeconomic headwinds ‘we now expect our result for the full year will be at the low end of the current range of market expectations.’ Breedon put the range for 2025 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation between £291.4 million to £311.5 million, growth of at least 19% from £245.8 million in 2024. Despite what he called ‘a challenging first half’, Breedon Chief Executive said he is ‘confident’ in the medium-term prospects for the group. Breedon said the UK government’s ‘encouraging’ commitments to invest at least £725 billion into infrastructure over the next decade, including £39 billion into affordable housing, should underpin future demand and ‘we continue to believe that 2024 should be the floor for volumes’. In Ireland, the medium-term outlook remains positive, Breedon said, while the US business enters the second half with a healthy backlog and greater exposure to the infrastructure market. ‘We expect our US business will see further growth and margin expansion over the balance of the year,’ the firm added. In addition, Breedon said its M&A pipeline ‘remains well-populated and provides exciting opportunities in each of our geographies.’ The dividend was increased 5.6% to 4.75p per share from 4.5p. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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