Trading Update Q2 2026

Trading Update Q2 2026

• wienerberger substantially strengthens its position in infrastructure and renovation markets, representing more than 60% of Group revenues
• Strong declines in individual residential new-build markets
• Group revenues increased to €1.41 billion in Q2 26 (Q2 25: €1.25 billion), supported by 7% organic growth, while Group operating EBITDA amounted to €230 million (Q2 25: €253 million)

Vienna, July 21, 2026 – wienerberger, a leading international provider of innovative and ecological solutions for infrastructure, renovation and the building envelope, continued to advance the strategic transformation of its business model. Revenues increased by 13% year-on-year to €1.41 billion (Q2 2025: €1.25 billion), supported by strategic acquisitions and 7% organic growth, driven by resilient demand across infrastructure and renovation end markets. Operating EBITDA declined to €230 million, reflecting much weaker-than-expected residential new-build activity, particularly in the United States, Canada and the UK.

Continued transformation towards more resilient end markets
Over recent years, wienerberger has fundamentally reshaped its portfolio to reduce its exposure to cyclical new residential construction markets and increase its focus on infrastructure and renovation activities. A key milestone in this transformation was the acquisition of a majority stake in Italcer in April 2026, an Italian specialist in ceramic wall and floor tiles, which significantly strengthens wienerberger's exposure to renovation-driven end markets with attractive long-term growth characteristics. In addition to being immediately margin accretive, Italcer provides a scalable platform for further growth and consolidation in the European tile industry. Together with the acquisition of Terreal and the continued expansion of the infrastructure-led piping business, the transaction further accelerates wienerberger's transition towards structurally more resilient and less cyclical revenue streams.

Heimo Scheuch, CEO of wienerberger: "The first half of 2026 was more challenging than we expected at the beginning of the year, particularly as the anticipated recovery in new residential construction markets did not materialize in several key markets, notably the United States, Canada and the UK. At the same time, we continued to execute one of the most significant portfolio transformations in our company's history. Today, more than 60% of our revenues are generated from the structurally more resilient infrastructure and renovation markets, while new residential construction accounts for less than 40% of our end-market exposure. This demonstrates that our strategy is delivering tangible results by creating a structurally more resilient business model.

The acquisition of Italcer is a compelling example of this strategy in action: it strengthens our position in attractive renovation-driven markets, enhances our earnings profile through its strong profitability and provides a platform for further organic and inorganic growth. Together with our investments in roofing and infrastructure solutions, we have substantially reduced our dependence on cyclical new-build markets and further increased the resilience of our business model. While current market conditions require disciplined and focused execution, our strategic transformation is progressing and positions wienerberger to emerge stronger when construction markets recover."

Market trends
Market conditions during the second quarter of 2026 were characterized by significant regional differences. Following a slow start to the year due to adverse weather conditions in several markets, activity in Continental Europe and the Nordic countries normalized during the second quarter. Renovation and infrastructure markets continued to demonstrate resilience, supported by improving customer demand and ongoing public investment programs.

By contrast, residential new-build activity in the United States, Canada and the UK remained substantially below expectations. Elevated financing costs drove affordability constraints and continued caution among both developers and private homeowners. As a result, the moderate recovery anticipated at the beginning of the year has been delayed, and subdued new-build activity remained the primary drag on Group performance during the second quarter. At present, we have not seen any material government support programs or stimulus measures across the key markets within our geographic footprint that could offset the continued weakness in residential construction activity.

From an end-market perspective, renovation and infrastructure continued to outperform new residential construction. Roofing activities benefited from stable renovation spending across most European markets and the decarbonisation of Europe’s aging housing stock, while piping solutions recorded solid demand driven by the European water resilience strategy and upgrades to European power grids. In parallel, wienerberger successfully managed significant volatility in raw-material markets without structural margin erosion.

Financial performance
Group revenues increased by 13% yoy to €1.41 billion in Q2 26. The Group's transformation towards infrastructure and renovation activities resulted in an organic increase of 7% yoy and mitigated the impact of weaker new residential construction markets, such as in the United States, Canada and the UK. In addition, recently acquired businesses, including Italcer and NEWS Group, made a significant contribution to Group results. However, the continued deterioration in key new residential markets, which impacted EBITDA by approximately €30 million in the second quarter through lower sales volumes and capacity utilization, outweighed the resilience of higher-quality end-market exposures. Altogether, this led to a decline in operating EBITDA to approximately €230 million from €253 million in the prior year. In the face of this earnings decline, wienerberger maintained a strong focus on disciplined capital allocation as well as cash generation and working-capital management.

Strategic development and portfolio transformation
Leading European piping business
With a 2025 contribution of €1.4 billion, Piping has become the largest segment of the wienerberger Group by revenue and represents a cornerstone of wienerberger's transformation towards infrastructure-led markets. Supported by structural growth drivers such as water management, climate adaptation, urbanization and investments in utility networks, the business benefits from attractive long-term demand fundamentals while providing further scope for acquisitions, such as NEWS Group, a leading provider of sustainable wastewater solutions in Sweden and the broader Nordic region, which we added to our portfolio in March 2026.

Terreal creates a leading roofing and facade platform
The acquisition of Terreal in 2024 significantly strengthened wienerberger's position in renovation-driven roofing solutions. By integrating these businesses, we established the leading European roofing platform with revenues of €1.2 billion in 2025, providing attractive synergy potential and supporting the Group's transformation towards structurally more resilient revenue streams. In parallel, wienerberger continues to invest in additional roof-tile capacity in selected Central European markets and the UK by enhancing its position in concrete tiles.

Italcer strengthens renovation exposure
The acquisition of a majority stake in Italcer represented another important milestone in wienerberger's strategy to increase its exposure to renovation-driven and less cyclical end markets. Beyond its immediate earnings contribution and attractive margin profile, Italcer provides a scalable platform for further growth in the European and international tile markets and supports the Group's long-term buy-and-build strategy. Since completing the acquisition at the end of April, Italcer has already contributed significantly to Group EBITDA performance and is progressing in line with our expectations. This performance has been achieved despite continued volatility in important markets such as North America and the Middle East due to political and macroeconomic instability. Overall, the EBITDA contribution from changes in scope amounted to more than €16 million in Q2 26.

Beyond its financial contribution, Italcer reinforces wienerberger’s strategic positioning as a provider of innovative and sustainable building solutions. The company has established itself as a technology leader in sustainable ceramic manufacturing, pioneering innovations such as industrial-scale electric kilns, renewable energy and carbon capture technologies that support the decarbonisation of ceramic production.

Accelerating Fit for Growth initiatives
In response to the continued market weakness in new residential construction, wienerberger is intensifying measures under its Fit for Growth program. The program focuses on optimization and efficiency initiatives across operating costs, capital expenditure and working capital management.

Management expects to accelerate incremental cash savings during the second half of 2026 while maintaining strict capital discipline and preserving strategic flexibility for future growth opportunities.

Outlook for 2026
Based on current market conditions, wienerberger expects renovation and infrastructure activities as well as the contribution from acquisitions to continue performing broadly in line with the assumptions underlying the Group’s guidance at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, management has acted decisively to mitigate short-term volatility in input costs, particularly energy and plastic granulates. Measures implemented to offset cost inflation, including targeted price increases, will be fully reflected in earnings during the second half of 2026.

However, residential new-build markets, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, have remained significantly weaker than anticipated and represented a substantial headwind to performance in the first half of the year. Given persistent affordability constraints, elevated financing costs, and continued economic and geopolitical uncertainty, management expects residential construction activity to remain subdued over the coming quarters. Compared with the assumptions underlying the Group’s initial guidance for 2026, the weaker-than-expected development in residential new-build markets is estimated to adversely impact Group EBITDA by approximately €100 million in 2026, of which around €40 million was incurred in the first half of the year. As a result, we currently expect operating EBITDA for the Group to amount to approximately €700 million in 2026.

While the recovery in residential new-build markets is taking longer to materialize than initially anticipated, wienerberger continues to benefit from a structurally more diversified and resilient portfolio. The Group’s transformation towards renovation, infrastructure, and other less cyclical end-markets, combined with disciplined cost management, operational excellence initiatives, and ongoing optimization measures, provides a solid foundation to navigate the current market environment and support long-term value creation.

wienerberger will publish its final 2026 half-year results on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

wienerberger
wienerberger is a leading international provider of innovative, ecological solutions for the entire building envelope, in the fields of new build and renovation, as well as infrastructure in water and energy management. With more than 20,000 employees worldwide, wienerberger's solutions enable energy-efficient, healthy, climate-friendly, and affordable living. wienerberger is the world’s largest producer of bricks and the market leader in clay roof tiles in Europe as well as concrete pavers in Eastern Europe. In pipe systems (ceramic and plastic pipes), the company is one of the leading suppliers in Europe and a leading supplier of facade products in North America. With its more than 200 production sites, wienerberger generated revenues of €4.6 billion and an operating EBITDA of approx. €754 million in 2025.
 
For further information, please contact:
Claudia Hajdinyak, Head of Corporate Communications Wienerberger AG
t +43 664 828 31 83 | claudia.hajdinyak@wienerberger.com
 
Therese Jandér, Senior Vice President Investor Relations Wienerberger AG
t +43 1 601 92 - 10221 | investor@wienerberger.com