A power outage at the plant caused the kiln to overheat leading to a six-week shutdown.

Forterra said: “After a detailed inspection, the company considers a full rebuild of the damaged sections of the kiln, rather than temporary repair ahead of the next planned shutdown, to be in the medium term the most prudent and cost-effective option.

“The impact on current year operating profit of lost production and sales and the cost of repair is estimated to be between £2m to £3m.

“As a result, the Board now anticipates that profits for 2018 will be marginally below its previous expectations.”

Trading in other divisions has been in line with expectations thanks to “good levels of activity in the new build residential sector.”

Brick sales are ahead of last year while precast concrete products have also improved.

Forterra said capacity utilisation has increased at its newly acquired Bison Swadlincote facility but “further improvements in productivity are being pursued.”