Wienerberger reports stable 2016

In a challenging economic environment, the Wienerberger Group succeeded in maintaining its revenues nearly stable in the first half of 2016 at 1,468.9 million euros compared to 1,474.9 million euros in the first half of 2015. The net result grew strongly from 6 million euros to 27.1 million euros, while operating EBITDA was impacted by negative foreign exchange effects (especially from the British pound and the Polish zloty), dropping from 181 million euros to 178.3 million euros.

The production of clay building materials had the biggest impact on the group’s economic results, with a far superior performance to the Pipe & Pavers segment.

The Clay Building Materials Europe Division accounted for an 818.2 million euro share of Group revenues (up by 3% from 2015), while EBITDA saw double-digit growth (+11% to 124.8 million euros). The best results were achieved throughout Eastern Europe (with the exception of Russia), while highly diverging developments were seen in Western European countries. Germany, France and the Netherlands performed strongly, whereas demand slowed in Great Britain, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland. In North America, both the US brick business and the Canadian operations performed well. Wienerberger’s North American Division generated revenues of 141.4 million euros, up by 7% from the first half of 2015.

For the full year, the building materials Group predicts a slightly positive development in European residential construction, though with major regional differences.

Full-year projections for 2016 are confirmed at 405 million euros of operating EBITDA, pre exchange rate changes which are expected to have a negative impact of approximately 10 million euros. The group will remain focused on cutting costs through more efficient production processes and remaining competitive by pursuing efforts to develop innovative products and new services.

With a total of 201 production sites, Wienerberger generated revenues of 2,972 million euros and operating EBITDA of 370 million euros in 2015.