Meanwhile, a solid 2014-15 result emerged from another Melbourne-based packaging group yesterday.
Pact Group (PGH) is the country’s biggest plastic packaging manufacturer and it said yesterday net profit had risen 17% for the year to June, while total dividend for the year has more than doubled.
Pact is controlled by Ralph Germinder, a Melbourne billionaire who is the son-in-law of the late packaging king, Richard Pratt.
Total revenue for the 12 months to June 30 jumped 9.3% to $1.25 billion, while net profit rose 17.2% to $67.6 million from 2013-14’s $57.7 million.
"Pact continues to build on its very long history of successfully acquiring and integrating businesses to deliver growth in earnings," said chief executive Brian Cridland.
PGH YTD – Pact on the hunt for more acquisitions
In the past year, Pact has snapped up rival companies including Barry Smorgon’s Jalco and the Sulo and Cinqplast businesses.
“These acquisitions have and will broaden our business into new markets, increasing the scale and diversity of our business and opening up growth opportunities,” Mr Cridland said yesterday.
The company will pay a final dividend of 10 cents a share, up 5.3% from 2014’s final.
With the interim unfranked dividend of 9.5c, Pact’s total dividend payment for the year is 19.5c per share, well up on 9.5c a share in the previous year.
Mr Cridland said the group is expecting to achieve higher revenue and underlying earnings in fiscal 2016, subject to global economic conditions. That’s a similar outlook to the one from Orora yesterday.
