Smurfit Kappa, the Ireland-based packaging group, has announced a pre-tax profit of €228 million for the first half of the year. This is a massive increase of 79 per cent on the same period last year.
Revenue for the period rose 1 per cent to €3.95 billion. European revenues were 3 per cent higher than the same period last year, due to demand and an increase in price.
In the Americas, there was a 7-per-cent fall in revenue for the same period, which the group said was attributable to the new exchange-rate mechanism in Venezuela. CEO Gary McGann said that the group's operations were performing well in the Americas and that volume growth is expected to improve for the second half of the year.
Smurfit Kappa has also managed to achieve substantial cost savings in the first half of the year, particularly with regard to raw-material expenses.
The company operates across 32 countries, employing around 41,000 people in 350 production sites.
Smurfit Kappa aims to make acquisitions in the Americas and Eastern Europe in the near future, and has increased its cash flow to €135 million to facilitate this aim.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine by Nicole Gernon
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