Packaging giant is shifting its focus to eastern Europe

Australian packaging giant Amcor is to restructure its Flexibles business in Europe with the closure of two plants and the streamlining of its divisional structure, the group announced as it published its half year results yesterday. The company has yet to identify the plants affected by the programme which will provide savings of A$10m (E6m) a year from 2007/08 and cost A$32m in cash plus write downs of A$18m.

At the same time Amcor Flexibles is stepping up its activities in eastern Europe with new printing capacity targeted primarily at the tobacco packaging area. Amcor Flexibles will in future have three divisions – covering healthcare, food and eastern Europe – instead of five. The business saw its pre-tax profits for the second half of last year drop by 12.8% at A$95.1m (E59.2m).

The Melbourne-based group’s PET Packaging business raised profits to A$130.3m from A$110.6m, a 17.8% rise on the back of an 8.8% volume increase. The UK continued its strong operational performance, the group notes in its statement.