RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — MeadWestvaco Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit fell less than 1 percent as it saw higher sales in its chemical and consumer packaging businesses.
The Richmond, Va., company reported earnings of $88 million Wednesday, or 50 cents per share. That compares with $89 million, or 51 cents per share, a year ago.
Adjusted for restructuring charges and income from its consumer and office products business it spun off in May, it earned $82 million, or 46 cents per share.
Sales increased 3.5 percent to $1.42 billion on gains in specialty chemicals and packaging for home, health and beauty products. It also saw increased land sales.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $1.43 billion. Its shares rose 65 cents, or about 2 percent, to $28.57 in morning trading.
The company is “financially strong” and investing in profitable growth initiatives “all while steering through a number of challenging factors in the external environment,” CEO John A. Luke Jr. said in a news release.
MeadWestvaco said sales and profits from specialty chemicals for asphalt, adhesives, inks and oilfield drilling grew 14 percent and 11 percent respectively during the quarter. Sales in its home health and beauty packaging segment rose 2 percent, and profit for the segment rose 38 percent. Sales in its food and beverage packaging segment inched up 1 percent but its profit fell 5 percent on higher raw material costs and transportation.
The company said sales for its community development and land management segment grew nearly 90 percent as it sold more land. Its sales of industrial packaging fell 15 percent and its profit fell 36 percent.
MeadWestvaco operates in 30 countries and has customers in more than 100 nations. In the last several years, it has gone from a mill-centric paper supplier to a global partner for brands like Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Walmart.
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Michael Felberbaum can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/MLFelberbaum.
