Wienerberger overcomes the challenges of 2021

The Group’s turnover grew by 18% compared to 2020 to almost €4 billion. It strengthened its position in core markets through targeted acquisitions.

The Wienerberger Group has hailed 2021 as the most successful year in its long history dating back to 1819. Despite the challenging market conditions, the Austrian building materials group’s focus on innovative, digital and sustainable solutions has enabled it to deliver excellent performance and strong organic growth across all business units.

Group revenues increased by 18% to almost €4 billion (compared to €3.4 billion in 2020). Proactive margin management and strict cost discipline drove an EBITDA increase of 24% to €694 million (€558 million in 2020) over the same period. Net profit reached €311 million, well above the previous year’s figure of €89 million.

Geopolitical instability, macroeconomic conditions and the COVID pandemic created raw material and energy supply bottlenecks and pushed up prices by as much as 50%. Despite this, Wienerberger was able to consistently meet its delivery obligations through effective supply chain management and to cope with the inflation-related cost increases through proactive cost management.

A major contribution to these results came from strategic acquisitions completed in 2021, such as the US-based façade solutions provider Meridian Brick and the UK-based wastewater and rainwater solutions specialist FloPlast, enabling the group to further expand its product offering for its core end markets in renovation, maintenance, and repair.

“These two acquisitions are expected to make a strong contribution of €60 million in 2022,” says Heimo Scheuch, CEO of Wienerberger.

Total investments in 2021 amounted to €279.8 million (+39% compared to the €201.1 million in 2020). The Wienerberger Building Solutions Business Unit accounted for 63% of total investments. Added to this is the €467.1 million that the group spent on M&As (€10.5 million in 2020).

Strong performances across all three Business Units

The group’s three business units posted strong performances in the 2021 financial year. Wienerberger Building Solutions generated revenues of €2.3 billion (€2.1 billion in 2020) and an EBITDA of €473 million (15% above the previous year’s level of €412 million).

The business unit delivered strong growth in Western European markets, particularly in Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands. Good results were also achieved in Northern and Eastern Europe, especially in the second half of 2021, with sales well above the previous year’s levels. For the Wienerberger Piping Solutions Business Unit, proactive margin management and strict cost discipline resulted in improved operational performance, with revenues of €1.2 billion (+25% compared to 2020) and an EBITDA of €115 million (+15%). The North America Business Unit reported an excellent 53% increase in revenues to €499 million, with EBITDA up by 76% to €83 million.

Positive forecasts for 2022

Wienerberger expects the prevailing macroeconomic conditions to continue through the current year.

The Group expects to see a positive global performance in all key markets. In 2022, the group expects to spend €135 million on the maintenance of its industrial base and deploy €160 million for organic growth investments. Based on this scenario, it has set itself the target of increasing EBITDA by 12-15% to €750-770 million in 2022.