Ibstock Warns Again on Profits as UK Housebuilding Slows

Ibstock, a brick manufacturer based in Leicestershire, has issued its second profit warning of the year, saying its sales in the three months to the end of September came in 22% below its expectations. The company now expects full-year profits in the mid-£40m range, down from the £59m that analysts had previously forecast, according to The Guardian. Its shares fell as much as 13% on Monday 2 November, making it the largest faller on the London stock market that day.

The company said it had cut production by a fifth in response to weak demand. Across the UK, brick market volumes fell 17% year on year in July and August. Ibstock said weak conditions continued through September and October. Its market value has halved over the last year, to £277m.

Brick sales are closely tied to new construction, and the company's warnings have been building for some time. In January, Ibstock reported revenue of about £372 million for 2025, up 2% from £366 million in 2024, in a trading statement published that month. Back in October 2025, it said that revenues in its clay and concrete segment had been hit in the third quarter, as weak construction demand weighed on the business.

The wider housing picture has also shifted. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent body that forecasts the government's public finances, cut its forecast for new homes built by 2031 by 190,000. Housing secretary Angela Rayner said there is only a slim chance the government will meet its goal of building 1.5 million new homes during this parliament, meaning the current term of the elected Parliament.

Ibstock, whose chief executive is Joe Hudson, has also criticised the government's decision to delay the Your First Home scheme until April 2027. The scheme is designed to help first-time buyers in England buy a newbuild home with a 2.5% deposit, meaning a down payment of 2.5% of the purchase price.