GPK - Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-07-30 16:49:07 ET
Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK)
Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call
July 30, 2024 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Melanie Skijus - VP, IR
Michael Doss - President and CEO
Stephen Scherger - EVP and CFO
Conference Call Participants
George Staphos - Bank of America
Lewis Merrick - BNP Paribas
Ghansham Panjabi - Baird
Lars Kjellberg - Stifel
Mike Roxland - Truist Securities
Matt Roberts - Raymond James
Mark Weintraub - Seaport Research Partners
Anthony Pettinari - Citi
Arun Viswanathan - RBC Capital Markets
John Dunigan - Jefferies
Presentation
Operator
Greetings. Welcome to the Graphic Packaging Holding Company Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded.
I will now turn the conference over to your host, Melanie Skijus. You may begin.
Melanie Skijus
Good morning and welcome to Graphic Packaging Holding Company's second quarter 2024 earnings call. Joining us on our call today are Mike Doss, the company's President and CEO; and Steve Scherger, Executive Vice President and CFO.
To help you follow along with today's report, we will be referencing our second quarter earnings presentation, which can be accessed through the webcast and also in the Investors section of our website at www.graphicpkg.com .
Before I turn the call over to Mike, let me remind you that today's press release and the presentations made by our executives include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors identified in the release and in our filings the Securities and Exchange Commission.
With that, let me turn the call over to Mike.
Michael Doss
Thank you, Melanie. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us on our call today. Graphic Packaging is a global leader in sustainable consumer packaging. We spent the last eight years of being a stronger, more diverse packaging portfolio capable of delivering consistent results, solid growth, and substantial cash flow for a range of economic conditions. The benefits of that portfolio transformation and the commitment and talent of the Graphic Packaging team were clearly evident in our second quarter results.
In the second quarter, Graphic Packaging sales were $2.2 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $402 million, and adjusted EPS was $0.60. Our reported sales were $155 million below year-ago levels.
Excluding the impact of the adjusted divestiture and related bleached paperboard sales, net sales from our packaging business were down $73 million or about 3%. Overall volumes were flat, in line with our expectation of flat to slightly positive and both price and mix were a small negative, as Steve will discuss shortly.
We ran extremely well and our margins were strong despite the very significant planned maintenance expense we incurred during the quarter. That leaves us well-positioned for the second half. Innovation sales growth and customer promotional activity are both expected to move higher in the third and fourth quarters.
Turning to Slide 3. We closed on the sale of the Augusta bleached paperboard manufacturing facility on May 1st, eliminating most of our open market bleached paperboard sales....
Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript