PROFITS at Hartlebury-based Baggeridge Brick have taken a nose-dive as the effects of the wet autumn begin to bite.

After four successive years of profit rises, Britain's third largest brick maker conceded a 36 per cent dip in pre-tax profits in the six months to March.

The figure now stands at £1.5m, down from £2.3m, while earnings per share dropped by the same amount to just 2.64p.

Turnover at the company, which has seven factories in Hartlebury and Waresley, both near Kidderminster, Kingsbury, near Tamworth and Sedgley, near Dudley, dropped 12 per cent to £19.2m.

Since September, the firm has lost more than £1m in operating profits from its building division, which it blamed on wet weather last autumn and winter delaying housing developments.

Housing completions, the company said, was at its lowest since 1924 - excluding the Second World War.

Figures were down from £2.3m to £1.1m at a time when the industry's volume sales were down 12 per cent nationally.

Only Baggeridge's landsource division, which rents out air space, boosted its operating profit by £300,000 to £0.6m.

Chairman Peter Ward, who plans to retire in December, played down the company's losses and said the future was brighter.

Baggeridge would benefit from a number of the company's capital projects, including a new brick cladding system and a combination of lower interest rates and Labour's commitment to higher investment, he said.

"Activity levels since the end of March, while still clearly affected by the weather, have shown signs of recovery," Mr Ward added.

"For the year as a whole, construction industry forecasts are for a similar level of activity to last year and this would indicate a strong recovery in the construction sector during the remainder of the year."