Packaging company Amcor has reported a more-than-expected decline in fourth-quarter sales, hurt by weaker demand for its containers and cartons.
Volumes for the company's products in rigid packaging fell due to persistent destocking in healthcare categories in North America — a major revenue-generating region.
Sales were also hurt by lower volumes in North American beverage business through the quarter ended June 30.
Quarterly sales at Amcor — which counts Cadbury parent Mondelez International and beverage maker PepsiCo as its customers — dropped 4% to $3.54 billion (€3.22 billion). Analysts on average estimated a 1% decline to $3.64 billion (€3.31 billion), according to LSEG data.
Peer International Paper also saw a slowdown in demand for its corrugated packaging containers in the latest quarter.
'Sequential Improvement'
"Amcor finished fiscal 2024 strongly, as the underlying business delivered another sequential improvement in volume and earnings growth, with fourth quarter adjusted EPS up 9%, ahead of the expectations we set out in April," commented interim CEO Peter Konieczny.
"Volumes returned to year on year growth in the quarter as customer demand improved and our teams maintained their outstanding focus on managing costs, driving strong margin expansion."
Amcor's adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter were at 21.1 cents (€0.19) per share, edging past analysts' estimate of 20 cents (€0.18), aided by easing raw material costs.
The company expects adjusted earnings per share for fiscal 2025 to be between 72 and 76 cents (€0.66 and €0.69), the midpoint of which was in line with analysts' estimate of 74 cents (€0.67).
It posted an adjusted profit of 70.2 cents (€0.64) per share for fiscal 2024.
"In fiscal 2025, we expect volumes and earnings will grow and adjusted free cash flow will remain strong," Konieczny added. "We remain confident in our capital allocation framework and strategy for long term growth."
Additional reporting by ESM
