News

Graphic Packaging, the US paperboard packaging manufacturer, has reported good results for the second quarter of the year in the face of unprecedented cost increases.

Graphic recorded $1.41bn (£585m) in net sales for the three months to 30 June - a 45% increase compared to 2007 - of which $496m was attributed to the merger with Activity Packaging, which was completed in March 2008.

The Georgia-based firm reported net earnings of $4.8m for the quarter, compared to a loss of $13.5m in the same period last year. For the half year, Graphic recorded a $12.4m loss, down from $43.8m in 2007.

David W Scheible, president and chief executive, said the improvement was the result of higher pricing, cost reductions and synergies within the company.

Scheible welcomed the "recent pullback in energy and related costs", but added the company had a strategy in place to tackle higher costs, particularly through price increases.

"Our first priority is to ensure the marketplace shares the inflationary costs we are experiencing," he said.

Remaining staff at Graphic Packaging's mill in Middletown (Dayton, Ohio), which is due to close on 15 August, are disputing the company's offer of employment at other facilities. There are concerns, however, that an arbitration process could take up to a year to be completed.