Ardagh Group back in the black ahead of IPO

Irish-owned glass and packaging group Ardagh has returned to profit mere months ahead of its planned partial flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Luxembourg-based group — which is headed by businessman Paul Coulson and which has its roots in Irish Glass — yesterday reported pre-tax profits of €51m for the first six months of 2015. This compared with a pre-tax loss of €267m for the first half of last year.

Net debt was up to nearly €5.1m, from €4.73m at the end of last December. However, the group’s first half revenues amounted to just over €1.3bn, a rise of 2% when measured on a year-on-year basis.

For the second quarter, alone, profits came in at €45m, a turnaround from a second quarter loss of €253m last year.

Ardagh’s metals division — the part of the business set for flotation — saw second quarter revenues grow by 12%, on an annualised basis, thanks in part to commercial operations beginning at its newly-acquired North American production plants in the early part of this calendar year.

Regarding said flotation —from which Ardagh is, reportedly, hoping to raise between €2bn-€3bn — the group said, subject to market conditions, the offering will take place before the end of 2015; although it added that “there can be no certainty regarding the size and success of any offer.”

“Ardagh’s objective is to raise approximately €2bn in proceeds from the combined debt and equity issuance,” it said. The metals division generated earnings of €80m in the most recent quarter, representing a 36% increase on the same period last year.

Glass division revenues rose by 12%, in the second quarter, to €814m, when compared to a year earlier. That was driven by a 22% sales rise in North America, whereas yearly growth was slower at just 1% in Europe.