Income from continuing operations attributable to the company in the 1Q 2013 was $11 million, or $0.06 per share, and included after-tax restructuring charges of $18 million, or $0.10 per share. Income from continuing operations attributable to the company in the 1Q 2012 was $50 million, or $0.29 per share, and included after-tax restructuring charges of $7 million, or $0.04 per share.
Adjusted income and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding after-tax restructuring charges, were $29 million, or $0.16 per share, for the 1Q 2013 compared to $57 million, or $0.33 per share, for the 1Q 2012.
Income from continuing operations attributable to the company of $11 million, or $0.06 per share ($29 million, or $0.16 per share ex-items), declined compared to the previous year. Colder weather in key regions as compared to last year negatively impacted first quarter sales volumes of beverage packaging, home and garden packaging, and asphalt paving chemicals. In addition, lower consumer confidence and spending in Europe continued to impact sales volumes of beauty and personal care folding carton packaging. Industrial packaging results in Brazil were above the company’s expectations, but declined versus the previous year primarily due to inflation and unfavorable foreign currency impacts. The Food & Beverage and Specialty Chemicals segments also experienced operational challenges related to planned outages in the quarter, which impacted the results in those segments. Sales and earnings in the Community Development and Land Management business increased modestly.
“External factors and temporary operating challenges masked the momentum we are continuing to gain with our profitable growth strategies across our businesses,” said John A. Luke, Jr., chairman and CEO of MWV. “While our 1Q results were disappointing, we continue to see measurable progress from our strategies, and are taking further actions to accelerate our performance and ensure that we achieve our financial goals.”
In the 2Q 2013, MWV expects earnings to be lower compared to year-ago levels on a continuing operations basis. The company expects continued momentum with its profitable growth strategies to drive volume improvement across its targeted Packaging and Specialty Chemicals businesses. In addition, the company is expecting to generate product pricing improvement and to benefit from its recent acquisitions in the Industrial and Specialty Chemicals businesses. These benefits are expected to be more than offset by a planned major cold outage at the Covington, Virginia paperboard mill and lower land sales.
MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV) is a global packaging company providing innovative solutions to the world’s most admired brands in the healthcare, beauty and personal care, food, beverage, home and garden, tobacco, and agricultural industries.