Smurfit Westrock, the world’s biggest supplier of paper-based packaging, said today that its third quarter revenue rose slightly on an annual basis but its net income and adjusted EPS declined.
Net sales rose to $8.161 billion from $8.003 billion the same time last year, while its adjusted EBITDA dipped to $1.205 billion from $1.302 billion and its net income fell to $219m from $245m
The company said that unprecedented cost inflation, particularly in freight and energy, weighed on its results for the three months from July to September.
Converting volumes were also somewhat weaker than anticipated, affecting its performance in the third quarter, it added.
Smurfit Westrock said it had implemented significant price increases across most of its paper grades to offset the higher input costs, adding that it expects these should more than offset costs as the increases are passed through.
The company said its North American business continued to make good progress during the third quarter, with the region reporting adjusted EBITDA of $760m and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.6%.
“We remain sold out in all containerboard grades, and most consumer grades, and our converting businesses in both business areas continue to improve,” the company noted.
It said its EMEA & APAC business continued to outperform in a market that is heavily impacted by rising energy costs and the region reported adjusted EBITDA of $379m and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.4%.
It said that containerboard price increases to offset costs have been implemented and are being passed on with the normal time lag.
Meanwhile, its Latin American division reported adjusted EBITDA of $126m and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.4% for the third quarter.
The division also announced a deal to buy the containerboard assets of CMPC in Chile, which the company said further strengthens its leadership presence in Latin America as the only pan regional supplier, where it continues to see many opportunities for development.
Tony Smurfit, Smurfit Westrock’s President and CEO, said the company now estimates its full year adjusted EBITDA will be approximately $4.7 billion.
“This expected outcome primarily reflects the continued and unprecedented cost inflation we are experiencing. For example, for the full year 2026 we expect to absorb approximately $700m of additional freight and energy costs alone, significantly more than anticipated,” Mr Smurfit said.
“We have, and are, implementing price increases to more than offset these costs, the full benefits of which we expect to realise into 2027,” the CEO said.
“Against what has been a challenging operating environment I am very proud of the efforts of all our people who have set the foundation for continued progress into 2027 and beyond,” he added.
