Ardagh Metal Packaging reports Q4 adjusted EPS 1c, consensus 4c

Reports Q4 revenue $1.13B, consensus $1.11B. Oliver Graham, CEO of Ardagh Metal Packaging, said: “2023 represented a year of transition for our business, as the team navigated a challenging macro demand environment and took decisive actions on our footprint and inventories to position the business for earnings growth in 2024 and beyond. Despite this market context – in particular softer European demand – we achieved record global revenues and shipment volumes, growing by 5%, driven by strong growth in the Americas. Our team’s efforts on working capital management drove a near trebling of cash generated from operating activities, resulting in AMP ending the year in a robust liquidity position. Our fourth quarter performance was negatively impacted versus our expectations by weaker than forecast sales volumes and orders in Europe that went beyond consumption trends, primarily reflecting customer destocking actions. This was partly offset by a stronger than expected performance in Americas. Our confidence in a stronger performance in 2024 reflects our expectations for improved cost absorption due to our contracted pipeline of volume growth in the Americas and our footprint actions. Consumer sentiment and spending remains soft, notably in Europe, but inflationary pressures are moderating and the beverage can continues to win share as the package of choice, backed by customer innovation and its sustainability advantages. With our well-invested global network and a strong diverse mix of customer relationships we remain well placed to benefit from a normalisation in demand, which should drive further earnings growth over the medium-term.”