British packaging company Mondi said it was implementing price hikes across its range of paper grades in the current fiscal year and there was an improvement in its order book.
Packaging companies, which benefited from a shopping boom during the pandemic-led lockdowns, had to grapple with softer demand and weak pricing in the past year as customers de-stocked amid tough market conditions.
High Input Costs
Selling prices were lower so far in 2024 than the averages achieved in the second half of the prior year, while input costs remained elevated compared with historical levels but have broadly stabilised since 2023-end.
'Sales volumes across our kraft paper and paper bag value chain were lower in the year as a result of weaker demand in line with softer economic conditions,' the company said in a statement.
The FTSE 100 company posted a 35% drop in underlying core profit at €1.20 billion for the year ended December 31.
Annual group revenue fell about 18% to €7.33 billion. The company has proposed a full-year dividend of 70 euro cents per share, in line with the year-ago payment.
'A Resilient Performance'
"Mondi delivered a resilient performance in 2023 as a result of our compelling customer service and delivery, supported by our scale, quality asset base, integrated model and breadth of products, customers and end-markets," commented Andrew King, chief executive.
"This strong cash generation gives us the strategic flexibility to continue investing in our business through-cycle, supported by our confidence in the long-term structural growth of the markets we operate in and our leading positions within them. We continue to make good progress in delivering our organic growth projects, which remain on track and on budget. We expect these projects to deliver a meaningful EBITDA contribution from 2025."
Additional reporting by ESM
