The materials giant said it has also been slowing down production with a shift to more output in the second half of the year.

In a trading update today the firm said: “The ongoing crisis in the Middle East has created further challenges for our business, with additional cost inflation driven by significant increases in the cost of diesel, transport services and natural gas. The impact of the increased cost of gas is however mitigated by our forward purchasing strategy, with around 80% of our requirements for the remainder of the year secured at pre-crisis pricing.

“Whilst our forward purchasing of gas insulated us from the higher prices in March, we have rescheduled some production from April until the second half of the year in order to manage our gas cost. Assuming market conditions allow, we plan to recover this production in the second half of the year, which will increase the second half weighting of our full-year result.

“In response to this additional cost inflation, we have implemented surcharges on our concrete products and announced brick pricing surcharges to take effect from 1 June 2026.”