Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) reported 4Q 2018 net income of $205 million, or $2.16 per share and $2.17 per share excluding special items. 4Q net sales were $1.75 billion in 2018 and $1.68 billion in 2017, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
Full year 2018 net income was $738 million, or $7.80 per share and $8.03 per share excluding special items. Full year 2018 net sales were $7.01 billion compared to 2017 net sales of $6.44 billion.
Commenting on reported results, Mark W. Kowlzan, Chairman and CEO, said, “Our containerboard mills established a new 4Q production record while reducing our containerboard inventory by 26,000 tons from the end of the 3Q. We ran our system to demand and managed natural gas supply issues that negatively impacted production at our Wallula Mill. Our containerboard production allowed us to maintain our industry leading integration rate by supplying the necessary containerboard to achieve a new all-time quarterly record for box shipments per day. Additionally, in 2018, we established new annual records for containerboard shipments, total box shipments and box shipments per day. The final phase of the containerboard conversion work at our Wallula Mill was very successful with the machine starting up on schedule.”
PCA is the third largest producer of containerboard products and the third largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America.
