Smurfit Kappa first-half profits, revenues rise

Corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa reported a rise in first-half profit and revenue on Wednesday despite increasing input costs and supply chain issues.

In the half year ending 30 June, pre-tax profit rose 86% to €769m, on revenue of €6.39bn, up 36% on the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 50% higher at €1.17bn and the interim dividend was lifted 8% to 31.6 cents a share.

Smurfit said both of its regions performed strongly during the half, with EBITDA in Europe up 57% to €926m, while in the Americas, it rose 29% to €271m.

Chief executive Tony Smurfit said: "Our strong performance is a result of the many actions we have taken over a number of years. These actions include significant customer-focused investments to meet growth, providing the most innovative and sustainable paper-based packaging in the marketplace and selective acquisitions ensuring security of supply to our customers.

"In the first half of 2022, we have overcome many challenges including sharply increasing input costs, logistics and supply chain constraints, Covid-19 disruption and the impact of the war in Ukraine. SKG's integrated model, our geographic diversity, our continued focus on efficiency through investment and our bespoke business applications, have enabled us to offset these challenges together with paper and corrugated price recovery."