Sonoco Reports 3Q 2020 Results

Sonoco reported financial results for its third quarter ended Sept. 27, 2020.

Third-quarter 2020 net sales were $1.31 billion, compared with $1.35 billion in 2019. 

Cash flow from operations was $489.5 million in the first nine months of 2020, compared to $238.8 million in 2019. 

Free cash flow was $251.6 million, compared with a use of $32.5 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Full-year 2020 cash from operations and free cash flow is expected to be in a range of $643 million to $663 million and $290 million to $310 million, respectively. Full-year 2019 cash from operations and free cash flow was $425.9 million and $74.3 million, respectively.

“We are very pleased with our third quarter performance as our Sonoco team drove bottom-line results that exceeded the high-end of our expectations,” said Howard Coker, president and CEO. “The results of our diverse portfolio of global Consumer- and Indus-trial-related businesses reflect improved global macroeconomic conditions coming off the pandemic-induced recession in the second quarter.

“Our Consumer Packaging segment produced solid year-over-year improvement as at-home food demand stabilized from the preceding quarter’s pantry stocking, while our Paper and Industrial Converted Products segment experienced improvement sequentially from the prior quarter’s lows, reflecting a partial recovery of our global industrial served markets,” Coker added.

Net sales for the third quarter of 2020 were $1.31 billion, down 3.1% from last year’s third quarter sales of $1.35 billion. The sales decline was driven by lower volume/mix, a stronger US dollar and lower selling prices. These negative impacts were partially offset by sales added from acquisitions.

Gross profit was $257 million in the third quarter compared to $265.5 million in the same period in 2019. Quarterly gross profit as a percentage of sales was essentially flat year over year at 19.6%.