Forterra has cut its full-year profit forecast after UK brick demand weakened further, the Northampton-based manufacturer said in a trading update on Tuesday, 11 November 2026. The group now expects adjusted EBITDA of about £50 million for 2026, below company-compiled consensus of £54.8 million, after revenue fell 11.9% on a like-for-like basis to £282.7 million in the ten months to 31 October.

The downgrade underlines how far the slowdown in housebuilding is still biting into the companies that supply the construction industry. Forterra's shares fell 6.1% to 156.20p in London trading shortly before noon on Wednesday, according to market reports of the update. The expected £50 million profit figure would also be about 19% lower than the £61.6 million of adjusted EBITDA the group reported for 2025.

Brick despatches fall 11% as demand weakens

UK brick industry despatches, the bricks shipped from factories, were 11% below the previous year in the nine months to 30 September 2026, Forterra said. That was worse than the 8% fall recorded in the first half of the year. Demand for repair, maintenance and improvement work, particularly home extensions, remained subdued and broadly in line with demand for new-build housing.

The decline in Forterra's own revenue also steepened during the year. The 11.9% like-for-like fall over ten months compares with a 9.3% fall in the first half, as lower sales volumes and weaker absorption of fixed costs weighed on profitability. Forterra said it had held its brick market share and that underlying selling prices were broadly in line with its expectations, suggesting the problem is a weak market rather than lost business to rivals.

Production cut to match demand

Forterra said it was managing production across all of its product ranges to match demand, limiting the build-up of unsold stock and its exposure to unhedged gas costs. About 80% of the gas it needs for the 2027 financial year is already secured. The group is also pushing through cost savings and selling surplus land, and it plans inflationary price increases from January 2027.

Even so, the company warned that without a meaningful improvement in volumes, profitability would remain constrained by its fixed cost base, with production actively managed to line up with demand until market conditions improve. Year-end leverage is expected to be about 1.9 times earnings.

Pressure across the housing supply chain

Forterra was not the only housing-related company to warn on Wednesday. Taylor Wimpey, one of the housebuilders it supplies, also trimmed its outlook for the year, saying the autumn selling season had been more subdued than expected and that completions and profit would come in towards the lower end of its previous expectations. The two updates together point to continued pressure on housing affordability and consumer confidence.

Forterra described the government's Your First Home scheme as a welcome development that should support the housing market over time. However, with the scheme's introduction delayed until April 2027, the group expects market conditions to remain challenging in the near term.

Share buyback continues

The group is continuing its £20 million share buyback programme, which is expected to be completed in December 2026. By 31 October it had repurchased 12,049,421 shares at a cost of £17.7 million.

Sources: AskTraders and Construction News, 11 November 2026.