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Greif Reports Second Quarter 2020 Results

"From a financial perspective, the business generated solid second quarter results. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 12 percent to $181.3 million, while Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by more than 71 percent to $79.0 million." – Pete Watson, President and CEO, Greif.

June 3, 2020 - Greif, Inc. (NYSE: GEF, GEF.B), a world leader in industrial packaging products and services, today announced second quarter 2020 results.

Second Quarter Highlights include (all results compared to the second quarter of 2019 unless otherwise noted):

• Net income of $11.4 million or $0.19 per diluted Class A share decreased compared to net income of $13.6 million or $0.23 per diluted Class A share. Net income, excluding the impact of adjustments(1), of $56.5 million or $0.95 per diluted Class A share increased compared to net income, excluding the impact of adjustments, of $47.6 million or $0.81 per diluted Class A share. Adjusted EBITDA(2) increased by $19.3 million to $181.3 million.
• Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $37.6 million to $99.8 million. Adjusted free cash flow(3) increased by $32.9 million to $79.0 million.
• Total debt decreased by $260.2 million to $2,682.3 million. Net debt(4) decreased $242.8 million to $2,609.9 million and decreased $107.4 million sequentially from the first quarter of 2020.

Strategic Actions and Announcements

• Completed the divestiture of the Consumer Packaging Business to Graphic Packaging Holding Company for $85.0 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments.
• Announced the permanent closure of the Mobile, Alabama Uncoated Recycled Board Mill (URB) as part of the Company's commitment to optimize the URB mill network. The closure of the #1 machine in October 2019 (approximately 65,000 tons) combined with the closure of the #2 machine (approximately 75,000 tons) removes approximately 140,000 tons of URB capacity from Greif's network. The Company will transfer existing customer business to other mills in its system.
• Achieved record intermediate bulk container (IBC) volume during the quarter. Also acquired a minority stake in Centurion Container LLC to further expand the Company's IBC reconditioning network in North America.
• Withdrawing fiscal 2020 adjusted Class A earnings per share and adjusted free cash flow guidance. Due to end market uncertainty, the Company is unable to reasonably quantify the impacts to its business for the remainder of its fiscal year. The Company plans to reinstate guidance in the future when there is better clarity into the duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pete Watson, Greif's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"At Greif, we safely package and protect essential goods and materials that serve the greater needs of communities around the world. That is our purpose as a Company and a serious responsibility in which we take pride. While we are operating in a highly unprecedented time, we continue to draw strength from our 16,000 global colleagues, and I commend them for their efforts this past quarter. I would like to especially thank our front line production colleagues for their dedication during this pandemic and for their outstanding service to our customers.

We are responding to COVID-19 from a position of strength, taking proactive steps to prioritize the safety and well-being of our colleagues, customers and suppliers while adapting to new methods to further serve customer needs. We are also advancing our strategic priorities, and during the quarter took steps to enhance our U.S. IBC reconditioning capability and published our 11th annual sustainability report.

From a financial perspective, the business generated solid second quarter results. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 12 percent to $181.3 million, while Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by more than 71 percent to $79.0 million. Although pleased with this performance, the current operating environment is dynamic and remains difficult to read. While economies have begun to reopen for business, the pace at which they do so varies and uncertainty persists."

COVID-19 Pandemic Response

The health and safety of our Greif colleagues is our first priority. The global COVID-19 pandemic remains an evolving situation and our global and regional pandemic task forces meet multiple times per week to monitor the latest updates and take action to further safeguard the health of our colleagues, customers and suppliers.

The Company has implemented a variety of safety measures in response to COVID-19, including: conducting temperature screenings for personnel entering our operations; routinely cleaning high-touch surfaces; following social distancing protocols; staggering production teams where needed; prohibiting all non-critical business travel; implementing visitor protocols; and encouraging all colleagues to work from home when possible. Additionally, Greif has launched a dedicated COVID-19 micro site internally for colleagues to access Company and health authority information, guidelines, protocols and polices, including those issued by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Greif's business continuity plans are designed to ensure its operations are fully capable of performing in adverse conditions in support of our customers' needs. The Company maintains a diverse supply chain and has not experienced significant production challenges or raw material or supply disruptions. The Company is also conducting frequent customer outreach and updates in the form of letters, audio and visual calls, and virtual customer webinars to maximize communication and further enhance transparency during this global crisis.

Segment Results (all results compared to the second quarter of 2019 unless otherwise noted)

Net sales are impacted mainly by the volume of primary products(6) sold, selling prices, product mix and the impact of changes in foreign currencies against the U.S. Dollar. The table below shows the percentage impact of each of these items on net sales for our primary products for the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the prior year quarter for the business segments with manufacturing operations. Net sales from Caraustar's primary products are included in the Paper Packaging & Services segment below for the second quarter of 2020 and for the second quarter of 2019 from Greif's ownership period which began on February 11, 2019. The inclusion of Caraustar's primary products for the full second quarter of 2020 resulted in the Paper Packaging & Services segment volumes within the table below to increase by approximately 5 percent.

Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services

Net sales decreased by $29.0 million to $602.6 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation decreased by $9.3 million primarily due to lower average sale prices as a result of raw material price decreases and corresponding contractual price adjustment mechanisms, partially offset by strategic pricing actions and stronger volumes in certain regions.

Gross profit increased by $8.3 million to $129.3 million. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to lower priced raw materials in part due to opportunistic sourcing, the timing of contractual pass through arrangements, strategic pricing actions, and product mix shifts.

Operating profit increased by $23.5 million to $70.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $23.3 million to $92.2 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted gross profit and a reduction in the segment's SG&A expense due to a decrease in performance based compensation, cost reduction activities, and the segment receiving a smaller portion of allocated corporate costs.

Paper Packaging & Services

Net sales decreased by $16.0 million to $481.6 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation decreased by $15.8 million primarily due to lower published containerboard and boxboard prices and the divestment of the Consumer Packaging Business, partially offset by Greif's eleven day additional ownership period of Caraustar in the 2020 second quarter. The Company took approximately 24,000 tons of economic downtime across its containerboard operations during the quarter.

Gross profit decreased by $13.4 million to $94.9 million. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales.

Operating profit decreased by $35.7 million to a loss of $5.5 million due to the loss on divestment of the Consumer Packaging Business, which was primarily related to the allocation of goodwill to the transaction. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $3.0 million to $79.1 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales and the segment receiving a greater portion of allocated corporate costs, partially offset by a reduction in the segment's SG&A expense due to a decrease in performance based compensation and cost reduction activities.

Flexible Products & Services

Net sales decreased by $9.6 million to $67.4 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation decreased by $7.2 million primarily due to continued demand softness and lower average sale prices primarily as a result of raw material price decreases and corresponding contractual price adjustment mechanisms.

Gross profit decreased by $2.7 million to $13.9 million. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales, partially offset by the timing of contractual pass through arrangements for raw material price decreases.

Operating profit decreased by $6.6 million to $4.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $0.8 million to $6.9 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted gross profit, partially offset by a reduction in the segment's SG&A expense due to a decrease in performance based compensation and cost reduction activities.

Greif's complete Second Quarter 2020 report can be found on the company's website.

Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services. The company produces steel, plastic and fibre drums, intermediate bulk containers, reconditioned containers, flexible products, containerboard, uncoated recycled paperboard, coated recycled paperboard, tubes and cores and a diverse mix of specialty products. To learn more, please visit: www.greif.com.

SOURCE: Greif, Inc.