On Dec 5, Sonoco Products Co. (SON) provided record financial outlook and strategic priorities for 2014 and 2015. Shares of Sonoco grew 1% on the news and eventually closed at $43.33 on the day.
Sonoco now expects fourth quarter and full-year 2014 earnings per share guidance to either outperform or be in the high end of its previously stated guidance range of 59–64 cents and $2.46 to $2.51, respectively, provideed during the third-quarter earnings release. As per the company, strong activity in the beginning of the fourth quarter, particularly in consumer-related businesses, including some recovery of excess costs associated with a flexible packaging material issue, led to the upbeat outlook.
For 2015, Sonoco estimates earnings per share will be in the range of $2.63 to $2.73, which will be a record, if achieved. The mid-point of the guidance stands at $2.68, which assumes 28 cents per share annual improvement driven by volume growth, a positive price/cost relationship, productivity gains and reduced share count.
Sonoco expects the recently completed acquisition of Weidenhammer Packaging Group to accredit 10 cents per share in fiscal 2015 earnings, which was previously expected in the range of 9—14 cents per share. However, the increase will be partly offset by 21 cents per share projected negative items, due to an estimated 9 cents higher pension expense, along with higher depreciation and other expenses as well as the negative effect of foreign exchange.
As a reminder, on Oct 31, Sonoco acquired Weidenhammer Packaging Group for $360 million to strengthen its packaging business in Europe and further expand its expertise in stable, highly decorated convenience packaging. The acquisition is expected to increase Sonoco's consumer-related packaging and services business to around $2.8 billion in annual sales or around 53% of its combined revenue. In addition, the combination is expected to increase the company's net sales in Europe to roughly 21% of total sales.
Further, Sonoco guided that cash from operations in 2014 will be around $424 million and free cash flow will be approximately $110 million after spending $185 million on capital and $129 million on dividends. For 2015, the company projected cash from operations of $505 million and free cash flow of $154 million driven by improved earnings and the add-back of depreciation favorably impacted by the addition of Weidenhammer and lower pension contributions.
The company hopes to utilize free cash flow in reducing debt and to pay a projected $134 million in dividends. Further, capital spending is expected to increase to around $218 million in 2015 primarily due to higher investments in the consumer-related businesses.
In order to drive long-term growth, Sonoco is investing in its Consumer Packaging and Protective Solutions segments. The performance of Consumer Packaging segment, which contributed around 38% of total sales in the third quarter of 2014, has been weak as decline in composite can volume in North America continues to offset volume growth in other products and regions. The company also remains focused on expanding flexible packaging capacity in North America where volume has grown between 4% and 6% over the past few years.
Sonoco’s investment in Poland, Malaysia and China in 2014 with further capacity expansion planned for Malaysia and China will aid to meet higher composite can demand. Finally, in Protective Solutions, Sonoco witnessed strong growth in molded components serving the automotive industry and will add new capacity in 2015.
Moreover, Sonoco's i6(TM) innovation process, which is a systematic approach to drive market-focused organic growth, has been introduced to more than 20 largest customers and the company is working on more than 30 projects to help grow its brands.
South Carolina-based Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging and packaging supply chain services. The company is also the largest producer of paper-based tubes and cores in North America.
At present, Sonoco carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some other stocks worth considering in the sector include MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV), Sealed Air Corporation (SEE) and ACCO Brands Corporation (ACCO). All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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