Breedon Cement resilient despite soft demand

Across all segments, the company reported underlying earnings of £42.0 million on revenues of £378.4 million with the acquisition of Lagan Group offsetting softness in other business segments.

The company expects the market in Great Britain to remain challenging for the remainder of 2018 on uncertainties surrounding BREXIT. The outlook for the island of Ireland is more positive, while Great Britain – which comprises England, Scotland and Wales – is expected to improve.

“We continue to view the medium- to long-term outlook in Great Britain positively, with infrastructure spending forecast to increase steadily over the next three years and Government strategies to address our chronic housing shortage expected to fuel continued growth in the residential sector,” the company said.

“Market conditions in Ireland are expected to be even healthier, with construction output in the Republic of Ireland forecast by Euroconstruct to grow by approximately 28% in the three years to 2020 and Norther Ireland expected to sustain construction output at approximately £3 billion/year from 2018 to 2022, according to the CITB Construction Skills Network.”

The company also announced a new management structure with Jude Lagan – the former head of Lagan Cement – taking on the position of Managing Director of Breedon Cement, which includes plants in Hope, Derbyshire, as well as Kinnegad in the Republic of Ireland, as well as terminals in Belfast, Dundee and Blyth, and a number of rail-linked depots and bagging plant.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/05092018/breedon-cement-resilient-despite-soft-demand/