Turnover for the year to December 31 2022 rose to £513m from £409m last time as margins increased to 27.2% despite sales volumes remaining flat.

Ibstock said it “has managed supply chain and inflation challenges well and we continued to price dynamically to recover cost inflation throughout the year, delivering a 26% increase in revenues with volumes broadly in line with the prior year.”

 Shareholders continued to benefit with £265m returned to stock holders in dividend payments during the last seven years.

Joe Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “These strong results reflect our continued focus on commercial and operational execution, which has enabled the Group to deliver significant growth and improved returns despite a challenging backdrop.

“Revenue and profit were materially ahead of both the prior year and pre-pandemic levels, reflecting the strategic progress we have made over the last five years, with the development of a high quality, lower cost and highly efficient asset base allied to the strength of our market positions.

 “We have faced into the challenges of recent years to emerge as a more diverse, higher quality business, with a strong management team and a clear strategy focused on value creation in the years ahead.

“As we face another period of uncertainty, we will draw on this experience to optimise our performance in the short term, while continuing to invest in, and diversify, the business to ensure we remain well placed to deliver on our medium-term targets.

 “Activity in the early weeks of 2023 has continued to reflect the more subdued demand environment experienced towards the end of last year, although we anticipate this to improve as the year progresses.

“With the strong strategic platform we now have in place, I am confident both in our ability to respond effectively to conditions this year, and to achieve significant growth over the medium-term.”