News blog

Michelmersh Brick

• BY: Andrew Hore |
• POSTED: 24/09/2012 |

Michelmersh Brick continues to outperform the brick manufacturing sector but poor weather has held back revenues.

The number of bricks sold declined from 36m to 33m while production fell from 35.6m to 35.1m. Higher gas prices have hit margins even though Michelmersh has increased its prices from £336 per thousand to £355 per thousand.

In the six months to June 2012, revenues edged down from £12.2m to £11.9m and there was a loss of £84,000 compared to a profit of £105,000 in the first half of last year.

Net debt was £20.2m at the end of June 2012, while tangible fixed assets are valued at £45.2m. The payment for land under the Persimmon option has been delayed because the expert’s report has not been published. There is interest from housebuilders for a further 15 acres of surplus land in Telford and this is likely to be sold at above asset value.

Michelmersh is unlikely to do much better than break even this year.

At 19p a share, down 1.5p, Michelmersh is valued at £11.1m – less than one-third of the company’s net asset value of £34.6m (60p a share).

Download the latest AIM Journal from http://www.hubinvest.com/AIMPDFSeptember2012_36.pdf