Ibstock Share Discussion Threads

[edmundshaw] 28/6/2022 15:12

Buybacks are not my favourite disease generally, but at these prices I am very happy to see Ibstock increasing my shareholding with their spare cash. In fact there are several buybacks in my shares at the moment and I am in favour of most of them at current prices. I pretty much agree with Warren Buffett's comment "When stock can be bought below a business’s value it is probably the best use of cash." He also said "Anytime you can buy stock for less than it’s worth, it’s advantageous to the continuing shareholders ... but it should be by a demonstrable margin" That proviso is important to me, and the failure by some companies to set limits on the buyback price is one of the reasons people are often against them: shares bought back willy-nilly at any old price is just not very bright... happily here and now there is no issue on that score!

[cerrito] 28/6/2022 14:07

As a holder of Ibstock I was interested to read rather a fluffy piece in today's Telegraph about how small family building companies are having a really tough time given the scarcity and pricing of key supplies, specifically bricks and mentioning the 12pc price increase made by Forterra in April. Has yet to impact the IBST share price. I checked progress in the buy back programme. My reading is that they have bought back 3,125k shares which at an average price of 175p equates to £5.5m ie they are still in the early days if they do do £30m of buybacks.

[scruff1] 26/6/2022 09:32

Got a mention in todays DT as a good divi investment

[boltonwonderkid] 06/6/2022 12:38

My only concern ere is that the housing market has slowed and is going down.So I am taking profits today and selling my shares been a good run ereGood luck to yer all. Our Kid is out

[tole] 22/4/2022 07:21

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/challenges-rain-down-on-big-miners-tzxd9jm9cIbstockWhen this column looked at Ibstock last August, inflation was a tiny cloud on the horizon, energy was plentiful, post-pandemic supply bottlenecks had hardly begun and Ukraine a far-off land familiar mainly to trekkers.For Britain's biggest brickmaker, the news since then could not have been much worse. The shares have fallen from 223p to as low as 167p. After rising following the publication of 2021's results on March 9, the price wilted again before a bullish statement yesterday, with the sweetener of a £30 million buyback, generated a 14½p, 8.8 per cent, rise to 181p.Joe Hudson, Ibstock's chief executive, told yesterday's annual meeting that the company had "made a strong start to 2022 . . . Mindful of the broader macroeconomic uncertainties, we expect to deliver performance for the full year modestly ahead of our previous expectations."SIGN UP FOR OUR ...Weekly newsletterNews, inspiration and advice for business leaders from British entrepreneursthetimes.co.uk/newslettersEnergy is a big factor in making bricks, so Ibstock has bought forward at fixed prices 75 per cent of what it will need for this year's second half and more than 30 per cent of the likely 2023 requirement.It has done well out of surprisingly strong demand for new houses and stands to benefit from the removal of unsafe cladding from blocks of flats. Ibstock Futures has bought glass-reinforced concrete panel technology, particularly suited to recladding. Its repairs, maintenance and improvement business has been generally strong.Last year, it said it would do better than forecasts of £93 million for adjusted earnings before tax, interest and other costs. The actual number was £103 million, encouraging for Hudson's numbers for 2022. Ibstock looks capable of earnings per share this year of 15p or more, which would mean a price-earnings ratio of below 12. It may want to hold on to cash in light of uncertainty, but even an unchanged 7.5p dividend would leave a useful 4.25 per cent yield.ADVICE BuyWHY Well placed to overcome multiple headwinds

[scruff1] 21/4/2022 09:04

edmund If Austrian companies get contracts by the Ukranians over UK companies then it would be a betrayal. Cant see it though. Im surprised that its taken this trading update to lift the share price I thought much of the energy situation was already known and that the share price drop was a bit strange and overdone. I also would have thought that the talk of a big increase in social housing would have given it a fillip - but it didnt. Ive found it all a tad weird

[gswredland] 21/4/2022 08:46

Hopefully that correction will be coming now Edmund

[daneswooddynamo] 21/4/2022 08:38

A good example here of the U.K. corporate sector being on sale again. Expecting a ramp up in corporate activity over the next 6 months

[edmundshaw] 21/4/2022 08:34

Austria's finance minister in early April ruled out any EU sanctions that target oil and gas coming from Russia. Wieneberger, HQed in Austria, is one of the main three brick suppliers in the UK (with Ibstock and Forterra). I for one won't be buying any building or other supplies from an Austrian or German company, as my personal sanctions against countries that are funding Putin's barbarous invasion and destruction of Ukraine. The idea that Wieneberger might even benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine is pretty unpalatable... I hope other decisionmakers in the UK might prefer to avoid Wieneberger and support our Uk-owned production where possible.

[edmundshaw] 21/4/2022 08:26

Super trading update today. Most energy requirements for this year sorted three months in, a third of next year's too (hopefully partly hedged so they can take advantage of any price drops). £30m buybacks due to leverage below the planned level. Share price lately has been bizzarly low, an upward correction is well due IMO.

[scruff1] 13/4/2022 08:48

Looks like the divi is not attractive to many.

[scruff1] 13/4/2022 08:48

Looks like the divi is not attractive to many.

[edmundshaw] 18/3/2022 21:50

Forterra is constructing a huge solar array which will provide most (70% was it?) of their energy requirements in a few years. Seems a lot, so I suppose they might be feeding back to the grid on very sunny days, not heard the detail. But Ibstock might do something parallel to avoid the carbon issue.

[scruff1] 18/3/2022 19:49

wad Fair post. I would imagine that like BP Ibstock will have an eye on the green issue. Having said that apart from energy and clay there aint much else needed. Wood maybe but as a builder I can tell you its not currently at least a cheap alternative - certainly not as a facing. The cement for concrete and the bedding of the bricks I would imagine will cause the most hassle. Bricks are aesthetically pleasing and even timber frames are usually skinned with brick. Depending on where you are a lot of false stone look blocks are used but thats concrete/cement which is where I expect any issues to arise. Will be interesting at any rate

[wad collector] 18/3/2022 14:04

Unless someone else can make bricks more cheaply in energy terms , Ibstock should be relatively insulated from energy costs, providing the demand persists. The UK is the largest importer of bricks in the world , according to OEC , but I don't think we need to worry too much about that , as 1 . They are mostly from Europe - which is generally hit harder by energy prices than us, and 2. It was a total of $30M in 2019. Or in import terms , our 822nd most valuable import. Looking longer term it could be argued that the energy intensive brick should be replaced by more sustainable materials like wood, and obviously there is a drive in that direction , but ask the Three Little Pigs about that one! I keep forgetting that about 25% of the revenue here is from concrete not bricks , though the precast imports are similarly small and the energy and sustainability problems similar. I doubt there will be a chance to buy at 160 again for a while.

[stuart little] 16/3/2022 19:52

Ibstock announced a price increase of £38/1000 hitting the industry April, titled as an energy surcharge.

[gswredland] 09/3/2022 10:18

Good looking results. Dividend up and very confident. Back in this morning

[edmundshaw] 09/3/2022 07:48

Very nice looking results. The share price is obviously completely out of step. Dynamic pricing against energy risk, 85% of energy requirements covered for the whole year, which should work out very nicely in the current environment. Price target for me is 300p.

[edmundshaw] 08/3/2022 15:58

How high and how soon are the factors. It does depend on your timescale. Give it 2-3 years and the new production will show through and be paid for. Meantime the price is low and the perfectly adequate dividend should be safe. The housing shortage is not going away, and unless Ibstock management fail to keep up with the very limited competition (unlikely) or invests in new materials that don't function properly or are unpopular (small risks I think), this investment will do for me. I also hold the main competitor Forterra; hopefully they can't both make a pig's ear of the opportunities in front of them!!

[indigocarmine] 08/3/2022 13:49

It always amazes me how touchy some people get over the expression of any slight concern on their baby investments. Of course, you are correct to a certain extent about Ibstock's energy hedging (or more accurately the art of wasting resources to protect yourself against the danger of having to waste even more resources), but the very fact you have to hedge in the first place is never a prime position to be in. One thing I will give you though is that you are entirely correct in your assertion that I should not be investing here: it was a clear mistake on my part, but I have never been a great fan of crystallizing losses, and especially not when I do think that Ibstock will eventually come good and give me some small measure of return. I suspect where we significantly differ is just over how high that eventual return will be.

[edmundshaw] 08/3/2022 11:54

If you don't understand Ibstock's energy hedging or the barriers to entry for any competition, maybe you should not be investing here. But it's pretty basic and public with recent updates. Perhaps you could do more research before opining on the investment case?

[indigocarmine] 08/3/2022 11:00

Possibly, though the worry is always going to be how high are energy costs going to go, and how easy will it be to pass those costs on to clients. For me, I think there is currently a glut of companies/sectors that are clearly undervalued and have a better investment case than here.

[edmundshaw] 08/3/2022 09:14

Ibstock missing out on the general recovery since the drop early doors on Monday. Now relatively very cheap IMO.

[wad collector] 02/3/2022 10:40

The energy rises are sector wide, this share price drop seems overdone.