UK: Rexam confident on FY, cautious outlook

Rexam, the drinks packaging giant, said it was confident of meeting its full-year  expectations, but offered a cautious trading outlook.

In a trading update for the period since1 July, Rexam said today (13 November) that group results were in-line with expectations as cost cutting and foreign-exchange-rate gains offset weak volumes.

"Despite continued volume weakness our strong focus on reducing cost, increasing efficiencies and improving cash flow, give us confidence that we will meet market expectations for the full year," said Leslie Van de Walle, Rexam's CEO.

"We remain cautious about the trading outlook, but will continue to focus on cash and costs to ensure we are well placed to participate fully in the upturn when it comes."

In beverage cans the company saw no change in the volume trends experienced in the first half. In Europe, volumes were "soft", and trading in both speciality cans and Russia continues to be "challenging", the company said.

In North America, Rexam volumes were in-line with the market. The business in South America continued to grow.

In plastic packaging, Rexam's cost reduction actions partly offset continued weak demand.

On Wednesday, Rexam completed the sale of its PET container business.

Petainer, which has been held for sale for some time, has been sold to Next Wave and WHEB Ventures for GBP16m (US$26.8m) in cash.