Vetropack – first half of 2018: record net sales and improved margins

In the first half of the year under review, Vetropack Group exceeded what was already a high level of net sales from the previous year by 12.8%. They amounted to CHF 350.0 million, another new record. The operating margin improved from 9.8% in the previous year to 11.6%.

Consolidated net sales from goods and services rose by 12.8% to CHF 350.0 million (2017: CHF 310.2 million). Adjusted for currency effects, Vetropack Group increased its net sales by 5.3%, with 7.5% attributable to currency effects due to the weaker Swiss franc. Unit sales amounted to 2.61 billion units of glass packaging in the first six months of the year, their best-ever level. Greater demand for high-quality glass packaging enabled Vetropack Group to optimise its sales mix to benefit its net sales and margin. This put consolidated EBIT at CHF 40.6 million, up by 34.0% year on year (2017: CHF 30.3 million). The EBIT margin improved to 11.6% (2017: 9.8%). 

The consolidated semi-annual profit of CHF 30.0 million (2017: CHF 24.7 million) was up 21.5% on the same period last year. The good performance also saw the profit margin increase from 8.0% in the previous year to 8.6%. Cash flow also improved, coming in at CHF 71.6 million (2017: CHF 61.3 million) and resulting in a cash flow margin of 20.5% of net sales (2017: 19.8%).