The Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) share price is storming higher on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, the building products company's shares are up 7% to $28.47.
This follows the release of the company's full year results before the market open.
Brickworks share price jumps on full year results
- Total revenue down 8% to $1,089 million
- Underlying EBITDA down 80% to $157 million
- Underlying net profit after tax down 88% to $61 million
- Statutory loss after tax of $119 million
- Fully franked full year dividend up 3% to 67 cents per share
What happened in FY 2024?
For the 12 months ended 31 July, Brickworks reported an 8% decline in total revenue to $1,089 million. This reflects a 12% decline in Building Products Australia revenue to $646 million and broadly flat Buildings Products North America revenue of $442 million.
Brickworks' underlying EBITDA was down a whopping 80% to $157 million during the year. This was due to property revaluations and property sales turning negative in FY 2024.
Excluding these, underlying EBITDA would have been 4% lower at $387 million. This was driven by lower Property and Investments earnings, which offset EBITDA growth in both Building Products segments.
In respect to Building Products Australia, management advised that its earnings growth was driven by an increase in margins. This reflects rationalisation and re-structuring activities, the implementation of price increases and productivity improvements across most operations.
On the bottom line, Brickworks posted an 88% decline in underlying net profit after tax to $61 million and a statutory loss after tax of $119 million. The latter includes a previously announced non-cash impairment of $135 million in relation to Austral Masonry and Brickworks North America.
Nevertheless, this didn't stop the Brickworks board from growing its dividend once again. It lifted its fully franked final dividend by 2% to 43 cents per share, which brought its full year dividend to 67 cents per share. This represents a 3% increase year on year.
How does this compare to expectations?
According to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts were expecting the company to report revenue of $1,077.3 million, EBITDA of $119.9 million, and a dividend of 67 cents per share.
As you can see above, the company modestly outperformed with its revenue and earnings and was in line with its dividend.
This may explain why the Brickworks share price is storming higher on Thursday.
Management commentary
Brickworks' CEO, Mark Ellenor, was relatively pleased with the company's performance and spoke cautiously about the future. In respect to the latter, he said:
Within Property, significant growth in rental income is forecast from the Property Trusts over the coming years, as we continue to develop existing Estates. We expect structural trends towards e-commerce and the digital economy will continue to drive demand for prime industrial facilities for many years to come. We are focused on identifying opportunities across the Group's vast land holdings to meet this demand and expand our development pipeline.
Our Building Products businesses in Australia and North America are facing challenges over the next 12 months, with subdued building activity across many of our key markets. As such, we are planning temporary plant closures throughout FY25 to undertake maintenance and control inventory. Looking beyond the short-term market weakness, we are well placed to deliver strong returns when market conditions improve, following our recent plant investments, re-structuring and portfolio rationalisation activities.
