Leading sustainable packaging solutions provider Orora has delivered a strong result for the 2022 financial year, with sales revenue, EBIT and net profit all increasing.
Orora’s sales revenue for the year was up 15.6 per cent to $4.1bn, statutory net profit after tax was $184.7m, up 36 per cent and EBIT was up 14.6 per cent to $285.5m.
Managing Director and CEO Brian Lowe said the result was driven by strong revenue and earnings growth in North America, with continued robust earnings in Australia.
“Orora has delivered a strong result for the fiscal year 2022, reflecting the disciplined execution of our strategic priorities in the face of global supply chain and inflationary challenges,” he said.
“Our North American business again delivered an impressive improvement in both financial and operating performance, with an increase in revenue and earnings largely driven by an ongoing focus on business optimisation, customer account profitability and a relentless focus on managing inflationary inputs and cost to serve.
“Our Australasian business performed solidly – the team has done a commendable job of managing inflationary cost pressures and supply chain disruptions to deliver revenue growth and earnings that demonstrate the resilience of the Beverage business. Following significant volume growth in the prior year, Cans saw a slight improvement in product sales mix and volumes, while the Glass business successfully expanded into new product ranges to mitigate the impacts of lower wine volumes due to the Chinese wine tariffs on Australian wine exports.
“I am incredibly proud of the entire team’s performance – we have delivered against our corporate strategy while remaining agile in response to external challenges as they have emerged. With a strong balance sheet and operating cash flow we are making significant investments in initiatives that will continue to sustainably grow our business and deliver for shareholders in FY23.”
Orora said it has made good progress on its sustainability goals and is on track to achieve its 2025 goal of 60 per cent recycled content in the glass packaging it produces.
In FY22 the company achieved 38 per cent recycled content in its manufactured glass packaging, an increase from 31 per cent in the prior year. Construction of the new ~$25 million glass beneficiation plant at Gawler, South Australia is complete and will be commissioned this month, significantly increasing the recycled content in the company’s glass packaging and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Lowe told The Shout that while there has been concerns around supply chain, the business has adpated well.
“We experienced some disruption at key customer and Orora sites across the year, largely due to COVID-related restrictions and staff shortages, as well as freight challenges,” he said.
“However, as an essential provider we worked closely with our customers to ensure there were no material impacts to continuity and quality of supply. In terms of our operations, given we are in the third year of the pandemic, our teams are well versed on managing the impact at a local level, and maintaining strong communications with our partners.”
Looking ahead the group expects earnings to be higher in FY23, reflecting the resilience of the business in what is expected to be a challenging year of economic conditions.