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Rigids sell-off puts Huhtamaki back in blackJosh Brooks, 15 February 2010Be the first to comment on this article Huhtamaki’s rigid plastics sell-off has helped it return to profit in 2009, results published today show.
The Finnish packaging group, which has been selling off its consumer rigid plastics division in the last year, said that overall sales had dropped 10% to EUR2,037.7m (£1,770m) but that a EUR74.5m pre-tax loss in 2008 had given way pre-tax profit of EUR119.1m in 2009. Key to the improvement was a transformation in the figures for the group’s Rigid Consumer Goods Plastics business, which has slimmed down in the last year through the sales of operations in Australia in November and South America last August. While sales in the division dropped 38% to EUR 282.2m, a pre-tax loss of EUR123.4m in 2008 turned to a pre-tax profit of EUR9.6m in 2009. Huhtamaki said it was still looking for a buyer for the remaining European operations in its consumer packaging business. Elsewhere, the company improved its profits in its flexibles, moulded fibre, foodservice and North America businesses, despite declines in turnover across the board. Huhtamaki chief executive Jukka Moisio said: “Huhtamaki had a financially strong year even if sales volumes declined due to soft market sentiment and demand. “Our performance in profitability was good with a clear improvement in earnings from the previous year. “Huhtamaki’s stronghold business segments performed well in 2009 and the strategic review of the Rigid Consumer Goods Plastics operations proceeded according to our expectations.” HUHTAMAKI FULL-YEAR RESULTS 2009 Total sales 2,037.7 (2008: 2,260.0) By business segment: Flexibles Global Films Global North America Rough Molded Fiber Global Foodservice Europe-Asia-Oceania Rigid Consumer Goods Plastics Click here for the latest headlines from across the packaging industry Speak Your Mind |
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