Packs and Closures

Huhtamaki, the Finnish packaging group, will take a £75m (EUR103m) charge in the fourth quarter of 2007 following restructuring and write-downs in its European rigid plastics business.

Huhtamaki has also sold its production facility in Portadown, Northern Ireland, and continues to consider different strategic options for its UK consumer goods business. However, production will continue at Portadown after Huhtamaki signed a lease agreement with the business’s buyer.

The group will book a goodwill impairment charge of £33m and tangible asset impairment charge of £42m from the adjustment of book values to future cashflow expectations. Three-quarters, or £56m, of the charge relates to its European rigid plastics business, followed by £11.6m for the Americas and £7.3m for Asia-Oceania-Africa.

Huhtamaki will also cut 100 jobs in its European rigid plastics operations but the charges for this will be covered by the gain from the sale of the Portadown plant.

It expects the job losses to cut £1.5m of costs.