Quinn making packaging at second Irish plant

Irish conglomerate Quinn Group has expanded its capacity in plastics packaging by launching a second extrusion and thermoforming plant in Ireland.

Secrets of Packaging Companies Revealed

A new league table from leading financial analysts Plimsoll Publishing aims to provide an answer to that age-old question in the packaging market: Why do some companies fail and others prosper?

In the UK, one in five packaging companies are currently at risk of failure, while one in four are doing well.

A league table based on 800 leading firms looks like this:

• 210 companies are 'strong' with a pre-tax margin of 7%

• 76 are in the 'good' sector, on 3% margins

• 145 are rated as 'mediocre', on 3%

• 194 are in the 'caution' category, with minus 1% margins

• An alarming 175 are in the 'danger' range, on minus 2%

Nearly nine out of ten UK companies currently in receivership were rated in the lowest two categories by Plimsoll in the two years before their demise.

Its senior analyst David Pattison says:

"169 of the 210 companies in the strong section are there for the second year running, proving that if you have a solid business where management is in control, you can maintain success irrespective of market conditions. The most successful firms are also largely free of debt."
Source: packaging-technology

Bemis of US may bid for Alcan's packaging business - Macquarie Equities

Bemis Co Inc, the largest maker of flexible packaging in the Americas, may bid for Alcan Inc's packaging business, worth about 4.4 billion US dollars, Macquarie Equities said Monday in a research note.

The brokerage house said private equity players might also be interested in Alcan's packaging business, but that Australia's Amcor Ltd was unlikely to make an offer.

Macquarie Equities said Alcan was a major competitor of Amcor in flexible and tobacco packaging, meaning an attempt by the Australian company to take over Alcan's packaging business could attract the attention of the competition regulators.

Rio Tinto Ltd announced last that it intended to sell the packaging business after its 38.1 billion-US-dollar merger with Alcan.

Macquarie said Bemis had only has a small presence in Europe, where Alcan had 20 percent of the market for flexible packaging and Amcor 15 percent.

It said Alcan's flexible packaging business would give Bemis clear leadership of the global industry.

Bemis has a relatively strong balance sheet, with 33 percent gearing, a net-debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.6 to one and an earnings-to-interest-expenses ratio of 9.9 to one, but Macquarie said the group would have to raise equity if it wanted to acquire Alcan's packaging business.
Source: lexisnexis

Podcast: The global packaging scene, live from Moscow

Listen to the Podcast

Packaging World Editor Pat Reynolds traveled to Moscow June 25-29 to visit a state-of-the-art juice packaging operation and to spend time at Rosupak-2007.

The largest packaging exhibition in Russia, Rosupak is organized by MVK, the leading Russian trade show organizer. Among the international dignitaries who delivered presentations at Rosupak was Keith Pearson (shown above), President of the World Packaging Organization. Pat sat down with Keith to ask him a few questions about WPO, the global packaging scene, and Rosupak in particular.

Alcan Packages Sale as Single Division

Aluminium giant Rio Tinto has announced it will sell Alcan's packaging division as a single business.

The news follows speculation the packaging company would be splintered for sale after a merger with the mining giant following a bid placed last week.

Melbourne-based Rio Tinto has placed a $38.1bn bid for Canadian aluminium company Alcan, in a deal that could create the world's largest aluminium company.

The proposed takeover has led packaging industry analysts to speculate on how the division would be splintered in order to attract more buyers, as Rio Tinto focuses on the more lucrative aluminium activities within the business.

The packaging division, which has 31,000 employees in 130 production facilities around the world, posted C$6bn in sales and C$550mn in profits last year.

Company spokeswoman Anik Michaud confirmed on Friday the division would be sold as a whole.

The takeover bid, subject to shareholder approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
Source: packaging-technology