Wienerberger’s Growth Paradox: Revenue Rises, Profits Slide as Housing Slump Bites

Wienerberger's Q2 revenue jumps 13% to €1.41B, but EBITDA drops as new home construction weakens in US, Canada, and UK, prompting a full-year forecast cut.

The Austrian brick-and-tile maker Wienerberger finds itself in an unusual bind: sales are climbing, yet the bottom line is shrinking. The company’s trading update on July 21 revealed second-quarter revenue jumped 13% to €1.41 billion, but operating EBITDA fell from €253 million to €230 million compared with the same period last year. That widening gap between top-line expansion and margin compression underscores the strain the building materials group is under as key residential markets cool.

Management slashed its full-year EBITDA forecast the same day, trimming expectations from €810 million to roughly €700 million. The culprit is a deeper-than-expected downturn in new home construction across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. While the infrastructure and renovation segment now accounts for over 60% of group revenue — providing a buffer — it has not been enough to offset the profit erosion from the cyclical new-build business.

The stock has taken a beating as a result. Shares closed at €20.78 on Tuesday, a modest 0.39% gain, but remain within striking distance of their 52-week low of €19.92 touched on July 24. At current levels, the equity has shed more than a third of its value since hitting a high of €33.04 in August 2025. The Relative Strength Index sits at 32.9, deep in oversold territory, reflecting the market’s souring mood after the profit warning.

Analysts have responded by trimming their price targets. Erste Group described the July 26 figures as negative in an initial assessment. For the second quarter, consensus estimates point to earnings per share of €0.701, down from €0.930 a year earlier, while revenue is seen rising to €1.42 billion from €1.25 billion.

Despite the headwinds, Wienerberger is pressing ahead with its acquisition strategy. In late May, the group signed a deal to buy Serbia’s Univerzum Group, a manufacturer of clay blocks, strengthening its foothold in Southeast Europe. That followed the April closing of a majority stake in Italy’s Italcer Group, which bolsters the renovation and ceramics business. Earlier in the year, the company also snapped up Sweden’s NEWS Group, a provider of sustainable wastewater solutions, to expand its infrastructure offering in the Nordics.

There have been management changes too. Gerhard Hanke, formerly chief operating officer for Central & East, was appointed deputy CEO effective June 1. On the shareholder front, the annual general meeting in May approved a dividend of €0.95 per share for fiscal 2025, paid out on May 18. Separately, a mandatory disclosure in early June flagged a change in voting rights at Goldman Sachs Group, though no strategic intent was inferred.

Wienerberger has also waded into the policy debate, welcoming European Commission proposals on the emissions trading system, which it says could bolster industrial competitiveness. Whether these regulatory and strategic moves can compensate for the weakness in North America and the UK will become clearer on August 12, when the company publishes its full first-half results. The group is also scheduled to present at the Commerzbank and ODDO BHF corporate conference in Frankfurt in early September, offering a platform to make its case to institutional investors directly.