Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE: SEE), Elmwood Park, NJ, reported sales for the first quarter of $1.9 billion, a 0.4 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier. The company reported $2.7 million in profit for the quarter, compared to a year-ago loss of $6 million.
Food & Beverage Division sales increased 1.9 percent on a constant dollar basis and 0.8 percent on a reported basis. Regionally, F&B achieved double-digit volume growth in AMAT and Latin America, offsetting slight declines in Europe and North America. Reported operating profit was $93 million for first quarter 2013, compared with $82 million in 2012.
Institutional & Laundry Division sales increased 1.2 percent on a constant dollar basis and 0.5 percent on a reported basis. Regionally, constant dollar net sales growth was led by Latin America, (10.5 percent), AMAT (8.8 percent) and North America (3 percent), offset by a decline in Europe (3.7 percent). Reported operating loss was $9 million for first quarter, compared with a loss of $1 million in first quarter 2012.
Protective Packaging Division sales decreased 0.8 percent on a constant dollar basis and 1.2 percent on a reported basis. Growth in North America was more than offset by volume weakness in Europe and to a lesser extent JANZ on continued manufacturing weakness in those regions. Reported operating profit was $47 million for first quarter 2013 compared with $51 million in 2012.
Medical Applications and New Ventures (Other Category) sales increased 4.1 percent on a reported and constant dollar basis, with 2.5 percent higher volumes and 1.6 percent from favorable price/mix. This increase was primarily driven by increased market penetration in Europe, offset by weakness in China. Reported operating loss was $1 million.
Jerome A. Peribere, president and CEO, said, “While we are pleased with the continued growth in our developing regions and the performance of our operations in delivering efficiencies and cost synergies, economic challenges in Europe remain persistent. We experienced Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in our Food & Beverage division, but margin performance was challenging in our Institutional & Laundry and Protective Packaging divisions.”