By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
DUBLIN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Smurfit Kappa said on Wednesday packaging used in e-commerce sales grew 25% in its main market Europe last year during the coronavirus crisis, helping the region’s largest paper packaging producer beat its 2020 earnings guidance.
The Irish group’s core earnings fell 9% to 1.51 billion euros ($1.83 billion) in 2020, but it was still ahead of the 1.46 billion to 1.48 billion it had forecast in November and the 1.48 billion forecast by nine analysts polled by Refinitiv.
The company’s London-listed shares were 3.1% higher at 3,644 pence by 0830 GMT after it said 2021 had started well amid an “increasingly positive” industry outlook driven by moves towards e-commerce and sustainability.