Rexam, the UK-based global consumer packaging company, is holding aseminar for analysts and investors later today to report on current global marketing conditions for consumer packaging.
The meeting will tackle a host of subjects relating to global packaging trends and the recycling of consumer packaging. It will also relate current world market trading conditions to Rexam's current objectives and achievements.
According to company officials, the second half of the year is so far living up to the expectations that had been predicted in its yearly outlook.
In the beverage packaging operations, the price recovery in the increasingly tough United States beverage can market is having the expected positive impact on margins and results, the company said.
In Europe, the company has said that its beverage can operation continues to deliver good growth and strong results. The glass division is also said to be well ahead of last year, and the company expects that the recent acquisition of the German glass container manufacturer Nienburger from Belgian brewer Interbrew will be a first important stepin the consolidation of the currently fragmented German glass market.
In plastic packaging, the healthcare flexibles and plastic containersbusinesses continue to improve on last year.
Rexam has spent the last year streamlining its operations in order to try and resume profitablity and focus on its core activities. In the first half of the year the company fell into the red with a £147 million (€232m) loss. However, the underlying trend was considerably improved. Now that the group has been slimmed down to focus on consumer packaging, expectations for the second half are considerably higher, with 2003 sales forecast to top the £1 billion mark.
According to the company, the overall outlook for the group's global operations is that 2002 will be a strong year and that the second half will see further improvements. More light is expected to be thrown on the group's expectations for 2003 at the seminar.