Smurfit Kappa reports profitable first quarter

Ireland-based paperboard and packaging producer Smurfit Kappa Group PLC (SKG), in a financial and operations review, reports a 13 percent rise in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) compared with a year ago.

“This performance reflects the continuing benefits of our integrated model, the effectiveness of our capital spend, our constant focus on innovation for customers and our geographic footprint,” CEO Tony Smurfit says.

“As anticipated, first quarter demand was broadly in line with the fourth quarter of 2022. We expect the demand environment to improve as the year progresses and SKG is well-placed across our geographies to take advantage of this. Smurfit Kappa has never been better positioned to continue to develop and take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves either through organic investments or acquisitions.”

In addition to citing the boosted EBITDA figure in the first quarter, Smurfit points to “an EBITDA margin of 19.3 percent, a return on capital employed (ROCE) of 21.6, percent and a net debt to EBITDA of times 1.2.”

SKG provides paper-based packaging globally, with more than 47,000 employees in more than 350 production sites in 35 countries, predominantly in Europe and Latin America. The company says its products as 100 percent renewable and as being produced sustainably to “improve the environmental footprint of our customers.”