Packaging group Smurfit Kappa said today it was looking for acquisition opportunities in Eastern Europe and Latin America to deliver good returns in the midst of a very gradual economic upturn.
Like others in the packaging industry, Smurfit Kappa, Europe's largest containerboard producer, has suffered as the recession has shrunk demand for consumer products and as overcapacity in the packaging industry weighed on margins.
"The ability of Smurfit Kappa to reward shareholders adequately from organic growth is not going to be there,"chief executive Gary McGann told reporters this afternoon. Mr McGann also said the group had had a "relatively decent" 2009 after a difficult start to the year, though he did not give details because the company is in a closed period.
"We don't see a consumer-led recovery realistically anywhere fundamentally yet but we certainly feel a significant sentiment change," he said.
"The next move is more likely to be positive than negative at the consumer level, albeit measured and slow and painstaking; the shock to the system has been huge."
Last month Mr McGann said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) should reach the top of a range between €674 million and €723 million.
Shares in the group, which operates in 22 European countries and in nine in Latin America rose 2.1 per cent to 6.25 euros by 2.30pm, while the wider Iseq was down 0.5 per cent.