Highlights: • For the first quarter 2018, the Company recorded earnings from continuing operations of $0.59 per share (diluted). This was on the upper end of management guidance of $0.55 to $0.60 per share. • Net sales were $1.7 billion, an increase of nearly 8 percent compared to the prior year, due to higher prices and favorable currency translation. Total glass container shipments in the first quarter of 2018 were comparable to the prior year quarter, with low-single-digit gains reported in the Americas. • Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes were $135 million, compared with $73 million in the prior year, driven by solid operational performance and non-recurrence of certain expenses in the prior year. Click Read More below for additional information.

Elopak has announced plans to build its first U.S. production plant with the latest state-of-the-art technology for better and more efficient production. The plant will produce Pure-Pak® cartons for liquid dairy, juices, plant-based products and liquid eggs. The new production facility will be located in Little Rock, Arkansas and is expected to start production in H1, 2025. It represents a significant investment for the region of around USD 70 million including the land, the building and the equipment. The new plant will create more than 100 permanent jobs in the region for engineers, printers, operators, logistics specialists and other support groups.

Due to uncompetitive wood prices from the Polish State Forestry Monopoly and significantly reduced market demand for paper and cardboard products, the company has decided to significantly reduce the planned multi-year strategic investment project at MM Kwidzyn with a focus on energy, further pulp integration and product portfolio, which was announced at the end of April 2023 . MM Kwidzyn will instead focus investments on further increasing its already high share of renewable energy from the current 69%. In addition, discussions were started with employee representatives about a possible closure of the small paper machine (PM 3) for packaging kraft paper and about restructuring, which could lead to a reduction in the workforce of around 110 employees. MM Kwidzyn will continue pulp and virgin fiber board production unchanged. In the paper sector, the PM 1 and PM 2 paper machines will continue to produce up to 360,000tpa of uncoated fine paper and 40-80,000tpa of “IPACK TM Strong Pro” (packaging kraft paper). Since one of the fine paper machines has not been converted, no sack kraft paper will be produced in Kwidzyn.