Neenah-based Bemis Company Inc. today reported third quarter net income of $54.0 million, or 52 cents per share, up from $47.4 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The company reported quarterly net sales of $1.3 billion, comparable to last year’s quarter.
“This quarter’s performance demonstrates the success of our strategy to improve sales mix and strengthen our return metrics,” said Henry Theisen, Bemis chairman and chief executive officer. “We improved our gross margin to the highest level since 2009. Our U.S. Packaging segment maintained its healthy 2013 operating margin in spite of lower unit sales volume and higher than expected costs related to the transition of production equipment from recently closed facilities. Excluding currency translation, our Global Packaging segment achieved a 20 percent increase in operating profit driven by improved price/mix in our Latin American operations and improved unit volumes in our European flexible packaging operations. Performance in our Pressure Sensitive Materials segment has stabilized at operating margin levels consistent with last year. Our adjusted guidance for 2013 reflects the negative impact of currency translation, the lack of anticipated sales growth in the second half of the year, and the higher production equipment transition costs that are expected to end during the fourth quarter.”
