Diversey Receives Institute of Hospitality Endorsement for Online Training Courses

First Quarter Highlights (all comparisons made to the December 2019 quarter) *Net sales of $3.1 billion; 7 percent organic volume growth *Operating income up 53 percent to $304 million *Operating EBITDA up 20 percent to $539 million *Increased fiscal 2021 organic volume growth assumption by 2 percent, now targeting 4 percent. Berry’s Chairman and CEO Tom Salmon said, “Berry’s fiscal 2021 is off to an exceptional start with record first quarter financial results exceeding our expectations. Consumer demand for our products remains consistent and certain markets which previously experienced COVID-19 headwinds are rebounding quicker than we expected.

Smurfit Kappa has patented a new innovative Vitop® Uno tap which is the first tap in the Bag-in-Box market to have attached tamper protection. The new tap design is compliant with the forthcoming Single Use Plastics Directive as it does not require the consumer to remove the tamper protection. Instead, it is deactivated when the product is first used and remains an integral part of the tap without affecting the subsequent use of the Bag-in-Box® product. This innovative solution eliminates the possibility of the tamper protection plastic ending up in the environment which can happen with detachable tamper protections. After use, the consumer can easily separate the box from the bag with the tap and send them for recycling in accordance with their country's recycling regulations.

Net sales increased by 31% in the second quarter. In comparable terms, growth reached 17%, driven by pricing actions. In most markets, demand developed favorably and has returned to pre-pandemic levels, however with some exceptions, particularly in China. Tensions on raw material availability limited our capacity to further grow volumes according to the demand, most notably in North America. We continued to mitigate the significant inflation which impacted all our major input costs, including raw materials, freight costs, energy and labor. We protected our profitability through operational efficiency improvements and pricing actions, with the adjusted EBIT increasing by 29%. Cash flow remained impacted by increased working capital and capital expenditure. We continued our organic investment into sustainable product innovation and business expansion. For example, we announced the expansion of our molded fiber product manufacturing unit in Hammond, Indiana, US. This investment in fiber technology supports market demand for more sustainable solutions in North America, such as egg cartons and cup carriers. The planned USD 100 million investment will start ramping up towards the end of 2023.