Toowoomba construction materials company Wagners reports strong half-yearly profits result for 2020/21 of $6.1 million

Toowoomba construction materials company Wagners has responded to a difficult 2020 with a strong profit result in its half-yearly report.

Screenshots from Wagners' Earth Friendly Concrete promo video.

Growth in cement sales along with work on major resource sector projects has led to Wagners recording a vastly improved half-yearly profit result for 2020.

The publicly-listed Toowoomba construction materials company recorded a net profit after tax of $6.1 million for the first half of the 2020-21 financial year — up from a $97,000 loss for the same report 12 months prior.

Wagners Holding Company CEO Cameron Coleman said the vast majority of the growth was in the domestic market, particularly in southeast Queensland.

“We chalk it down to strong performances from our cement business, our precast business and project opportunities within the resource sector in Australia,” he said.

“We’re encouraged by the level of activity in the southeast Queensland market, and see the infrastructure projects that are in the pipeline presenting many opportunities for our business. “The opportunities like Inland Rail and Cross River Rail, along with many other small projects.”

Revenue from the company’s construction materials division grew by $33 million from the previous half-yearly report, while the business also reduced its overall debt by $11.3m from the end of the prior financial year.

Mr Coleman said the result was impressive, considering Wagners didn’t qualify for the Federal Government’s JobKeeper program.

“We’re very pleased with the business performance compared to this time last year,” he said.

“We had not qualified for any JobKeeper allowance but have kept the company growing through these challenging times.”

The company also still plans to build and open a composite fibre manufacturing plant in the United States this year, despite the impacts of COVID-19.

“We were disappointed not to gain much traction in the USA, due to the COVID-19 challenges,” Mr Coleman said.

“However, our pultrusion machine has arrived in Texas and we have commissioned to the design and construction of a new factory to install it in.

“We do hope to have that factory operational later this year, providing the vaccine rollout is successful and there are no more delays caused by COVID-19.”

The half-yearly results drove up Wagners’ share price last week to its highest level since late December.