IRELAND – Irish packaging company Smurfit Kappa has reported revenue of US$9.51 billion (€9.72b)  for the first nine months of fiscal 2022 (FY22), up by 33% from the same period of fiscal 2021 (FY21).

The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the three months to 30 September 2022 were US$1.74 billion (€1.76bn), up 43% from a year previous. Its EBITDA margin also rose by 18.2% year-on-year.

Smurfit Kappa recorded a US$ 1.13 billion (€1.14bn) profit before income tax, up by 77% from US$639 million (€645m) in the first three quarters of FY22.

The company’s operating profit before exceptional items was US$1.25 billion (€1.26bn) in the nine-month period, an increase of 63% from last year.

Its basic earnings per share (EPS) during this period also rose by 88% to US$3.30 (€3.33), against US$1.76 (€1.78) a year earlier.

For FY22, Smurfit Kappa expects full-year EBITDA of around US$2.28 billion (€2.3 billion).

Smurfit Kappa Group CEO Tony Smurfit said: “We continue to drive improvement across all areas of our business, consistent with the delivery of our strategy, providing the most innovative and sustainable packaging through our integrated business model, ensuring the security of supply to our over 65,000 customers.

“Significant cost inflation is being recovered in corrugated box pricing as anticipated. Against strong comparisons, corrugated box volumes were flat for the first nine months.

“The investments we have made over the last number of years are making the Group ever more efficient with a customer-led focus on quality, innovation and sustainability.

Tony Smurfit added: “With (Smurfit Kappa’s) scale and geographic reach across 36 countries, together with the many specialist businesses within the Group, there remain many opportunities for growth.”

Based in Dublin, Smurfit Kappa supplies paper-based packaging to companies in 23 European countries and 13 countries in the Americas.

Ball’s global beverage can shipments up by 5.7% in Q3 2022

Meanwhile, US-based aluminum packaging company Ball has reported that its global beverage can shipments, excluding those in Russia, grew 5.7% in the third quarter (Q3) of fiscal 2022 (FY22).

The company recorded net sales of US$3.95 billion in Q3 2022, compared with US$3.55 billion in the same period of the prior fiscal year (FY21).

Its earnings before tax in the three months to 30 September were US$444 million, while net earnings attributable to the corporation increased from US$179 million to US$392 million year-on-year.

Ball’s Q3 comparable diluted earnings per share (EPS) were US$0.75, against US$0.94 in Q3 2021.

The company’s beverage packaging segment in North and Central America registered comparable operating earnings of US$205 million on sales of US$1.80 billion in the quarter.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Ball’s beverage packaging recorded comparable operating earnings of US$82 million on sales of US$1.03 billion.

Its beverage packaging segment in South America also posted comparable operating earnings of US$67 million on sales of US$466 million, against US$74 million on sales of US$462 million in Q3 2021.

Ball recorded net sales of US$11.8 billion for the first three quarters of FY22, compared with US$10.13 billion in the same period of FY21.

Net earnings attributable to the company in this period were US$664 million, up from US$581 million a year earlier.

Ball president and CEO Daniel Fisher said: “During the quarter, we proactively prepared the business for continued macroeconomic volatility by executing a comprehensive fixed and variable cost-out plan.

“In 2023, the cost-out plan benefits of at least US$150 million will more than offset the loss of operating earnings from the recently divested Russian beverage can business and will be complemented by net contractual inflationary cost pass through across all of our packaging businesses throughout 2023 and beyond.”

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