Record profits driven by Beverage Cans
Rexam, the global consumer packaging company, announces its results for 2011.
Underlying business performance
|
|
2011 |
|
2010 |
|
Change |
|
Sales (£m) |
4,734 |
|
4,619 |
|
2% |
|
Underlying operating profit (£m) |
549 |
|
513 |
|
7% |
|
Underlying profit before tax (£m) |
450 |
|
390 |
|
15% |
|
Underlying earnings per share (pence) |
36.1 |
|
31.4 |
|
15% |
|
Total dividend per share (pence) |
14.4 |
|
12.0 |
|
20% |
Highlights
• Underlying profit before tax £450m - up 15%
• Strong free cash flow of £277m - net debt reduced to £1.3bn
• Return on capital employed improved to 13.7%
• Efficiency savings of £35m
• Total dividend up 20% at 14.4p
• Beverage Cans underlying operating profit up 13%
• Sale of Closures business successfully completed, now actively marketing Personal Care for divestment
Commenting, Graham Chipchase, Rexam's chief executive, said:
"We are delighted with the continued progress of the business in 2011. Our strong profit growth was achieved by a better than expected performance in our Beverage Cans business, primarily in Europe, and a continued focus on cost management.
"Looking ahead, we remain cautious about the global economy and, as previously indicated, we face certain cost challenges in 2012 together with the impact of a key Healthcare product coming off patent. The volume environment for Beverage Cans remains robust, although we do not anticipate any turnaround in the performance of Plastic Packaging in the near term. Overall, we expect 2012 to be another year of progress as we continue to focus on cash, costs and return on capital employed."
