Smurfitt Kappa sees 73% profits fall

Packaging products company Smurfitt Kappa (SKG) has seen pre-tax profits fall by 73% to €39m in the first half of this year, compared with the same period in 2008.

The Smurfit Kappa Group, which has operations in 22 European and Latin American countries, announced plans last month to cut 140 jobs in Co Cork due to the downturn in Irish manufacturing.

Group boss Gary McGann said: "Against a backdrop of difficult business conditions, the resilience of SKG’s integrated operating model complemented the benefits of our continued cost reductions and ongoing actions to rationalise our less-efficient capacity."

He added that: "As yet, tangible signs of economic recovery are limited despite the improvement in confidence indicators."

SKG said it would increase prices by €60 per tonne for all its brown containerboard grades from September 1.