Ball Corp 2Q Income Climbs Nearly 70 Percent From Insurance Claim

Packaging manufacturer Ball Corp.’s second-quarter net income rose nearly 70 percent, in part because of a $45 million net gain due to payment on an insurance claim stemming from a fire at a German manufacturing plant.

The company’s results also were boosted by higher sales of metal beverage cans and plastic packaging products.

“Though the insurance accounting gain skews our second-quarter results, when you put that aside we still had a solid quarter,” R. David Hoover, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

For the quarter that ended July 2, Ball reported $133 million in net income, or $1.26 per share, compared with $79 million in net income, or 71 cents per share in the previous second quarter. Sales totaled $1.8 billion, up from $1.6 billion.

The most recent results included a $45.2 million net gain stemming from the fire at the Hassloch beverage can manufacturing plant in Germany.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast earnings of 82 cents a share on revenue of $1.77 billion.

Hoover said they expect a stronger performance in the second half of the year because of higher demand for products, in particular beverage cans.

Ball’s stock closed up 28 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $38.51 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. In the past year, it has traded between $34.16 a share and $45 a share.

Based in this north Denver suburb, Ball manufacturers metal and
packaging products and also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies
Corp.