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Forterra plc (FORT.L)

Basic Materials Out of favour

Forterra makes the bricks and building blocks that construct a huge share of British houses.

£1.40
≈ 140p · London-listed shares are usually quoted in pence (GBX) elsewhere; the Almanac shows pounds (£1 = 100p).

Is Forterra plc a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Well-established brand deeply embedded in the UK construction supply chain. Worth weighing: Recent revenue has shrunk due to a softer property backdrop. Below, we lay out what it does, what its numbers mean, and the honest risks, so you can decide for yourself.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-20.3%
52-week range-28% past year
£1.40
Low £1.26High £2.04
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Forterra plc
£797-20%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

How much has Forterra plc actually fallen?

−37%

Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Forterra plc fell as much as −37% from a high to a later low. Drops of this size are a normal part of owning a share - worth knowing in advance, so a dip doesn't come as a shock.

Worst peak-to-trough fall in the daily closing price over the period we hold. Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£281.88M
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
917.20K
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£1.36 – £1.42
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£1.26 – £2.04
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
15.5
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
4.3%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.73
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.73
Calm
Wild
Steadier than most

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +1% past week · ▼ -28% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Modernized factories and a generational housing shortage spark massive long-term profits.

The bear case

Alternative building methods permanently reduce the reliance on traditional bricks.

What does Forterra plc do?

Operating right here in the UK, this firm turns clay into the fundamental building blocks used across the construction industry. It generates cash whenever builders, developers, and homeowners put up new walls, meaning its fortunes are tied closely to the broader housing market. The key detail to keep an eye on is how smoothly British housebuilding activity bounces back when economic conditions shift.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on value and income, and weakest on momentum.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 64Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 43Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 43Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 16Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 57
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Well-established brand deeply embedded in the UK construction supply chain
  • Solid dividend payout offering cash returns while waiting for a market recovery
  • Decent gross margins show strong manufacturing capability
What to watch
  • Momentum screens low (16/100)
  • A deeper-than-expected UK housing downturn
  • Rising energy costs required to fire kilns and bake bricks
  • Competitors taking market share during lean periods

What do Forterra plc's numbers mean?

P/E
15.5
This shows how many pounds investors are paying for every pound of current yearly profit the business generates.
Lower than most of the 27 Basic Materials shares we cover
Forward P/E
11.4
This looks ahead, using estimated future profits to show a slightly cheaper-looking price tag if earnings improve.
Around the middle of the 34 Basic Materials shares we cover
Dividend yield
4.4%
This is the annual cash payout expressed as a percentage of the current share price, rewarding patient shareholders along the way.
Higher than most of the 34 Basic Materials shares we cover
Revenue growth (yoy)
-13.5%
Total sales shrank compared to the previous year, showing the impact of a slower property market.

Does Forterra plc pay a dividend?

Yes - Forterra plc currently pays a dividend of about 4.3% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

What do the numbers say about Forterra plc's dividend?

There's no rating here, and we don't judge whether the dividend will continue - that would be advice. Here are the figures income investors usually look at, and what each one means, so you can weigh it up yourself.

Dividend yield4.3%The yearly dividend as a percentage of today's price. A very high figure often means the price has fallen because the market expects a cut, so a big yield is a question to look into, not a prize.
Payout ratio68%The share of profit paid out as dividends. A lower figure leaves headroom; near or above 100% means most or all of the profit is going out as dividends.
Dividend cover1.5×Profit divided by the dividend (the payout ratio the other way up). As a rough convention many income investors like around 2× or more; below 1× means the company paid out more than it earned that year.

Figures are from the latest available data and can be distorted by one-off results. Past payments don't predict future ones, and a dividend can be cut at any time. This lays out the numbers to help you understand them - it is not a view on what will happen.

When does Forterra plc report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Forterra plc is next scheduled to report on about 2027-03-11 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

More in Basic Materials

CF IndustriesNewmontEndeavour MiningFresnilloNucorSteel Dynamics, Inc.Freeport-McMoRan Inc.Corteva, Inc.

What are the scenarios for Forterra plc?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£2£1£1today · £1▲ Bull · £2• Base · £1▼ Bear · £1in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+10% to +20%Interest rate cuts trigger a sudden surge in new housing projects.
Base
-5% to +5%The property market stabilizes slowly with steady, modest demand for bricks.
Bear
-15% to -25%Construction activity stalls further due to economic pressures and sticky costs.

What are the pros and cons of Forterra plc?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Well-established brand deeply embedded in the UK construction supply chain
  • Solid dividend payout offering cash returns while waiting for a market recovery
  • Decent gross margins show strong manufacturing capability
The catch3
  • Recent revenue has shrunk due to a softer property backdrop
  • Highly cyclical: A business whose sales and profits rise and fall with the wider economy - booming in good times, sinking in downturns. Miners, carmakers and banks are classic examples. business sensitive to economic weather
  • Modest net margins leave little room for operational error
Key risks3
  • A deeper-than-expected UK housing downturn
  • Rising energy costs required to fire kilns and bake bricks
  • Competitors taking market share during lean periods
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-02. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.