Page 6 - Packaging News magazine Sep-Oct 2022

NEWS
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TOP STORIES FROM PACKAGINGNEWS.COM.AU
1OPAL INVESTS $140M IN PACKAGING PLANT Opal Group is making a major
investment to construct a high-speed manufacturing facility for cardboard packaging in regional Victoria. (See p8)
2PACT, WOOLIES PARTNER TO BOOST CIRCULAR PLASTIC
Pact Group partners with Woolworths to manufacture and supply recycled packaging for products in the Woolworths Own Brand range. (See p8)
3CLOSE THE LOOP SNAPS UP ALLIANCE PAPER Close the Loop Group acquired thermal paper supplier and sustainable paper products group Alliance Paper. (See p9)
4AUS-FIRST ADVANCED PLASTICS RECYCLING TRIALS UNDERWAY
APR Plastics finds success in its trial of running PE and PP through its advanced recycling technology, and turning waste into oil. (See p16)
5BROOKE DONNELLY NEW COLES SUSTAINABILITY GM Former CEO of APCO, Brooke Donnelly, has been appointed as GM Sustainability at Coles Group. (See p7)
6GREAT WRAP RAISES $24M TO SCALE UP Melbourne-based startup Great Wrap has landed international investment to innovate materials and scale up production. (See p 10)
Amcor says outlook bright on full year results
GLOBAL PACKAGING JUGGERNAUT Amcor says it will continue with strong growth in the new financial year, after reporting upticks in all its figures for the 2022 year, with the fourth quar- ter the best of all.
CEO Ron Delia said Amcor was focusing on high growth, high value segments, which included healthcare and consumables, specifically meat, cheese, coffee and petfoods. He said the non-dis- cretionary nature of the products it supplied packaging for would shield it against any “headwinds” in the coming year.
He said, “This is our third con- secutive year of accelerating top line growth, and we expect to sus- tain this momentum including by stepping up investments in higher value-add priority segments.”
Left: 2022 was an “outstanding” year: Ron Delia, Amcor CEO.
For 2021/22 net sales were up by 13 per cent, or four per cent on a constant currency basis, to US$14.5bn, EBITDA rose by four per cent, or seven per cent on a constant currency basis, to US$2.1bn, while net income rose by six per cent, or eight per cent on a constant currency basis, to US$1.2bn.
The company pushed through price rises of 12 per cent in the year, as costs including resin, plas- tic films and aluminium prices continued to soar.
Delia said along with a focus on its priority segments, innova- tion would drive organic growth, along with emerging markets and sustainability. Amcor is stepping up its investment in innovation, and in capex, it expects to spend 4-5 per cent of its sales revenue on capex in the coming year. Delia said “We are making strong investments in R&D, and have an excellent team.”
The company is also looking at further acquisitions, Delia said it had made 30 in the past decade, including the latest, a Czech- based flexibles printer. It has just increased its stake in global digital flexibles producer ePac, in which it first invested last May. Delia said Amcor would continue to invest in high-growth “vision- ary” companies. ■
produced by Pact, delivering “sound revenue growth”, economic and supply chain challenges have impacted performance.
Dayal said it’s likely that the chal- lenging conditions will continue until Christmas, with signs of sta- bilisation expected in the new year (second half of FY23), although he noted that prices of resin will likely stabilise at an elevated level.
The dip in underlying profits to $70m was attributed in large part to absence of one-off revenue in the Contract Manufacturing segment recorded in FY21, the division falling to a $4m loss, with Pact set to sell the business as soon as it has turned it around. Pact has now exited the hand sanitiser business, and wrote off $17.8m worth of inventory in the process.
Dayal remains buoyed by the company’s progress towards exe- cuting its stated strategy to lead the circular economy, with one recycled content manufacturing plant already commissioned in NSW and two more under con- struction in WA and Victoria. ■
Pact revenue up, profits down
PACT GROUP ACHIEVED four per cent revenue growth in the 2021/22 financial year, driven by solid
demand for sustainable packaging and recycling products, but profits slumped by 86 per cent on soaring input costs.
Sales overall were $1.84bn, under- lying EBIT was down by 15 per cent to $156m, underlying net profit after tax was down by a quarter to $70m, while reported net profit after tax fell
to $12m, from $88m last year.
It has been a challenging year for Pact Group, one that MD and CEO Sanjay Dayal describes as “unprecedented”. As a packag- ing manufacturer supplying the FMCG sector, the effects of a pan- demic-strapped economy have been compounded by soaring input and labour costs – notably plastic resin – and supply chain disrup- tion impacting Pact, its suppliers and its customers. Dayal said the group had man- aged to pass on most of the increased costs, but still had to absorb $17m
worth itself.
So while there’s been
escalating demand for recycled content
Left: Strategy to lead circular economy on track: Sanjay Dayal, MD & CEO Pact Group.
6 ❙ SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2022
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