A supplier of bricks and masonry, Brickworks has reported a disappointing 70 per cent fall in annual net profit due to the cool in the housing construction market.

The company said that its net profit fell to $43.3 million in the year till July compared to $142.5 million in the previous year. The figure included charges of $35.6 million including restructuring costs and also $31.6 million write down due to various business projects. The company struggled to deal with the fall in residential building activity and it was also facing difficulties in getting on with the carbon tax.

Brickworks is expecting the conditions to improve gradually and the company to make a recovery in the next one year. Managing director Lindsay Partridge said that the predictions show that the housing market may have bottomed out and it might recover in the coming future.

"The recovery in building activity is likely to be patchy over the next 12 months, with weak full-time employment growth, low confidence and poor affordability eliminating any impact from lower interest rates to date," he said.

Meanwhile, Washington H Soul Pattinson, which has a 44.5 per cent stake in Brickworks, said that its profits have fallen 61 per cent fall to $143 million.