It's been a decent start to the trading week for most ASX 200 shares this Monday. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has risen by a decent 0.14%, and is back over 8,520 points. But let's talk about what's happening with Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW) shares.
Brickworks shares are doing even better than the broader market this session. The ASX 200 construction materials manufacturer closed at $34.30 a share last week. But this morning, those same shares opened at $34.22 before rising as high as $34.68. At the time of writing, Brickworks stock is up 0.99% at $34.64 a share.
This healthy gain comes after the company released a trading update to investors this morning. Which has clearly gone down well.
The headline development from Brickworks' update was that "Property EBITDA for 2H25 is expected to exceed that reported in 1H25 due to revaluation gains and development profits in 2H25".
The gain in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) comes to $65 million for Brickworks' Industrial Property Trust. This was made possible by "a moderate compression of capitalisation rates during the period". This amounted to 15 basis points on average.
In addition, Brickworks also revealed that "a development profit of around $39 million is expected" from its Oakdale East Stage 2 project, reflecting "development progress by the end of July 2025".
Even so, the company told investors that net trust income for the second half of the 2025 financial year "is anticipated to be broadly in line" with the income from the first half.
Overall, Brickworks is anticipating that its 'Building Products Australia' division will bring in a second-half EBITDA "slightly ahead" of the first half.
Brickworks shares rise 1% after mixed ASX trading update
It wasn't all good news, though. Brikworks also revealed that it is expecting only a "marginally positive" EBITDA result for the entire 2025 financial year from its 'Building Products North America' division. This was blamed on "ongoing economic uncertainty, elevated interest rates and subdued consumer sentiment".
As a result of these headwinds, together with "high construction costs" and "diminished cost efficiency and margin compression", Brickworks is expected to recognise a post-tax, non-cash impairment charge of $75 million for its North America division in the current half of the financial year.
Even so, Brickworks was unable to provide a formal guidance figure for the company's net profit after tax for the period. That's thanks to the company's ongoing 25.64% position on the ownership of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL).
Speaking of which, Brickworks did also state that nothing in today's update has any impact whatsoever on Brickworks' plans to merge with Soul Patts later this year.
Regardless, it seems investors are happy with what Brickworks has reported today. That's judging by what's happening with Brickworks shares at present.
After today's gain, the Brickworks share price is now up by more than 36% year to date.
