Corrugated specialist RockTenn adjusted earnings shot up 127% to $2.16 per share in the third-quarter of fiscal 2013 (ended Jun 30, 2013) from 95 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.
Total revenue improved 6% year over year to $2.448 billion.
In contrast, glass maker O-I said it earned $132 million, or 80 cents per share, in the quarter. Last year, O-I reported earnings of $133 million, or 81 cents per share.
The company’s revenue also was nearly flat, increasing less than 1% to $1.78 billion from $1.77 billion.
“The company performed in line with our expectations, notwithstanding weaker than expected demand,” said O-I chief executive Al Stroucken. “We are squarely focused on execution, especially asset optimization and wine share recovery in Europe, as well as labour productivity savings in North America. These actions are allowing us to achieve our targets despite headwinds.”
The company said its operating profits were higher in Europe and Asia Pacific.
In a statement, RockTenn chairman and chief executive James A. Rubright said: “Our quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.16 per share, up 93% over the preceding quarter and 127% over the prior year quarter, reflect the continued substantial improvements we are making in operating our businesses, executing capital projects and executing our sales and pricing strategy.
“As these broadly based initiatives continue to strengthen and as we further implement the current pricing initiatives in corrugated packaging and consumer paperboard grades, our earnings for the fourth quarter and the next fiscal year should also be sharply higher than our earnings for the comparable prior year periods.”
‘Volume growth’
Elsewhere, Silgan Holdings, a well-known supplier of rigid packaging for shelf-stable food and other consumer goods products, reported second quarter 2013 net income of $59.5m, or $0.93 per diluted share, as compared to second quarter 2012 net income of $10.6m, or $0.15 per diluted share.
“Our businesses generally performed as expected and we delivered record second quarter adjusted net income per diluted share of $0.63, an increase of nearly 15% over the same period in 2012,” said president and chief executive Tony Allott.
He added: “Our metal container business benefited from continued volume growth, which more than offset ongoing economic challenges in Europe. Our plastic container business benefited from the inclusion of the plastic food container operations, continued improvements in operating performance and a more favourable product mix, which were partially offset by expected volume declines as we continue to rebalance the portfolio of the business.
