During the nine months to 31 March 2000, earnings before interest and tax grew 13.2%, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier, for Australian packaging giant Amcor. On 18 April, the compan…
During the nine months to 31 March 2000, earnings before interest and tax grew 13.2%, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier, for Australian packaging giant Amcor. On 18 April, the company“s managing director, Russell Jones, said Amcor“s primary focus on packaging for staple goods largely protected it from any fallout of the global economic downturn. “The reality is that there“s a softening in demand, but 75% of what we produce is for the food and beverage industry, which tends to be less cyclical, so we“ve continued to do very well,” he said. The third quarter results came exactly a year after Amcor spun off its paper arm, Paperlinx, which Mr. Jones said had already paid off, enabling Amcor to focus on building a global packaging empire. He referred to the announcement two weeks ago of a three-way merger to leapfrog Amcor into the control seat of Europe“s largest flexible packaging company. After European authorities give it the green light, the deal, which will cost Amcor US$ 712 million, will see its global sales jump to US$ 7 billion. An industry analyst at a major broker, who did not want to be named, said the 18 April growth figures put Amcor on track to make full-year net profit of US$ 240 million.