Smurfit Kappa defends results

PAPER and packaging giant Smurfit Kappa Group has defended its performance over the past year, even after seeing its pre-tax losses heighten to €52 million and group revenue fall by 14%.

The company’s full-year 2009 financial results — published yesterday — showed a rise in pre-tax losses from €11m to €52m and a decline in revenue from just over €7 billion to a touch above €6bn.

Operating profit fell by 5% to €267m and the basic loss per share widened from 22.8c, at the end of 2008, to 55.8c as of the end of December. Full-year EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was down by 21% at €741m, and the EBITDA margin fell from 13.3% to 12.2% — a “resilient” result given the state of the international market, according to Smurfit Kappa chief executive Gary McGann.