Sealed Air’s strong first quarter performance despite currency ‘headwinds’

Sealed Air overcame a strong US dollar to deliver a creditable first quarter financial result. It increased first quarter 2015 Adjusted EBITDA by 13.4% to US$284 Million or 16.3% of net sales and achieved an adjusted EPS of US$0.54, which was up 64%.
Sealed Air's Jerome Peribere
Sealed Air’s Jerome Peribere

Sealed Air overcame a strong US dollar to deliver a creditable first quarter financial result. It increased first quarter 2015 Adjusted EBITDA by 13.4% to US$284 Million or 16.3% of net sales and achieved an adjusted EPS of US$0.54, which was up 64%.

Jerome A. Peribere, president and chief executive officer, said, “Our first quarter 2015 performance was a strong start to the year despite currency headwinds. Net Sales of US$1.7 billion were up 3.5% on a constant dollar basis as compared to last year with positive sales across all divisions and regions.

“Adjusted EBITDA increased more than 13% compared to last year with Adjusted EBITDA margins expanding 260 basis points to 16.3% as a result of favourable price/mix and cost spread and our ongoing commitment to operational excellence.

“For the remainder of the year, we will continue to stay disciplined on our value-added selling approach and focused on earnings quality improvement initiatives, both of which are expected to contribute to organic sales growth and margin expansion.”

The Sealed Air report noted that, ‘Diversey Care net sales of US$468 million in the first quarter decreased 7.4% as reported, and increased 1.5% on a constant dollar basis. Currency had a negative impact on Diversey Care net sales of 8.9%, or US$45 million, in the quarter. Favourable price/mix was 1.7% on essentially flat volumes.

‘Positive volume trends in North America and Asia, Middle  East and Africa (‘AMAT’) were offset by a slight decline in Europe and mid-single digit declines in Latin America.

‘Diversey Care reported Adjusted EBITDA of US$41 million or 8.8% of net sales. The division’s performance was in line with first quarter 2014 and was attributable to cost synergies, which were more than offset by unfavourable currency translation and higher SG&A costs.’

www.sealedair.com 

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