(Reuters) – Packaging firm Amcor missed first-quarter sales estimates on Thursday, hurt by weaker demand for its containers and cartons from consumer goods companies.
Separately, the company said it would be selling its 50% interest in joint venture Bericap North America for $122 million, sending its shares down about 4% in extended trading.
Amcor’s sales took a hit by sluggish customer demand and an impact from consistent destocking in healthcare packaging categories.
Its quarterly sales volumes remained soft in the North American beverage business — a major revenue-generating region — along with categories including healthcare, home and personal care product packaging.
The company’s customers, such as PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, have been grappling with frugal consumer spending.
Amcor posted quarterly sales of $3.35 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ estimates of $3.49 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.
However, benefits from consecutive price hikes in its rigid packaging segment, as well as cost-cutting measures and easing raw material costs, aided Amcor in edging past analysts’ estimates for profit.
On an adjusted basis, Amcor posted first-quarter earnings of 16.2 cents per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 16 cents per share.
Bericap North America, which was established in 1997, is Amcor’s joint venture with Germany-based firm Bericap, a manufacturer of plastic lids for beverage food and other industrial end markets.
Upon closing around Dec. 31, cash proceeds will be used to reduce debt, said Amcor, and it does not expect the transaction to have an impact on its financial outlook for fiscal 2025.
The packaging products maker reaffirmed its annual adjusted profit forecast of 72 cents to 76 cents per share.
(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona)