Wienerberger's Renovation Pivot Meets a 42% Slide as Hanke Takes the Helm
Published on 09/23/2026 at 14:42 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Wienerberger is betting that bathrooms, tiles and infrastructure can carry it through a housing downturn that has already carved 42% off its market value this year. The Vienna-based brickmaker closed its majority takeover of Italy's Italcer Group in the second quarter — a 50%-plus-one-share deal that adds roughly EUR 350 million in annual revenue and tilts the group further toward renovation work, where demand has held up better than in new-build construction.
That strategic shift is unfolding against a backdrop of real pain in the core business. Wienerberger has pegged the earnings hit from weak residential construction in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom at about EUR 100 million. Those markets remain the single biggest drag on group profitability, even as acquisitions keep the top line moving.
Revenue Grows, Margins Don't
Second-quarter group revenue climbed 13% to EUR 1.409 billion, yet operating earnings slipped as margin pressure persisted. The first half paints a similar picture: sales of EUR 2.434 billion, with operating EBITDA down 15% to EUR 326 million. Higher interest rates and cautious private builders have translated into muted demand for building materials across Europe and North America — a combination that forced management to trim its full-year targets.
The renovation and infrastructure push is designed to blunt exactly that cyclicality. By expanding into refurbishment solutions, Wienerberger aims to lift its share of higher-margin product lines and smooth out the volume swings that come with new-build exposure.
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A Leadership Handover in Mid-Crisis
The operational headaches are compounded by a change at the top. Gerhard Hanke is running the company as interim CEO after Heimo Scheuch stepped down more than a month ago with immediate effect for health reasons. The supervisory board has launched a structured search for a permanent successor, leaving Hanke to steer the restructuring and integrate the newly acquired renovation assets in the meantime.
Serbia, Fidelity and a Stock Near Its Floor
Wienerberger hasn't paused its dealmaking. On May 18 it signed an agreement to acquire Serbia's Univerzum Group, a business with roughly 200 employees expected to contribute about EUR 20 million to revenue this year. The move strengthens the group's position as a producer of backing bricks in southeastern Europe and extends its regional production network.
Institutional investors, meanwhile, have been shuffling their positions. Fidelity Management & Research Company reportedly reduced its voting stake, having briefly built it up around two weeks earlier; the shares have shed 3.1% since that peak. The stock trades at EUR 17.78, down 42% year-to-date and just 3.0% above its 52-week low — a valuation that leaves little room for further disappointment.
Wienerberger at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
Cost discipline is now the watchword inside the company. But the decisive variable remains the same one that has dogged Wienerberger all year: a genuine recovery in construction activity. Until that arrives, the renovation pivot and the occasional bolt-on deal can only do so much.
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