The Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA) share price has been one of the star performers on the market today with a sizeable gain.
In late morning trade the packaging company's shares are up 9% to $2.98 following the release of its full-year results.
Highlights of the result include:
- Sales revenue up 4.9% to $4,039.1 million
- Net profit after tax up 14.4% to $186.2 million.
- Earnings per share up 14.6% to 15.6 cents.
- Final ordinary dividend of 6 cents per share, 30% franked. Total dividend is 11 cents, up 15.8% on FY 2016.
- Operating cash flow was $331.5 million, up from $313.8 million
Overall I believe this was another strong full-year result from the Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) spin-off and I can't say I'm surprised to see its shares climb higher.
The key driver of growth in FY 2017 was its North American business. This segment posted a 23.1% increase in earnings during the period.
Pleasingly, the segment is likely to receive a boost next year as earnings from its Orora Visual business continue to flow through.
Whilst the growth of its Australian segment wasn't as impressive, a 6.6% increase in earnings played a part in the company's strong bottom line growth.
Which is the third successive year of double-digit earnings growth for the company. The good news here is that this level of growth may still have further to run.
According to the release, organic growth and investments in innovation are expected to drive its constant currency earnings higher next year, subject to global economic conditions.
Should you invest?
As I have said in the past, Orora would have to be my first pick in the industry ahead of Amcor and Pro-Pac Packaging Limited (ASX: PPG).
Whilst its shares are not cheap at 19x full-year earnings, I think its current growth profile justifies the premium, making it a great buy and hold investment option today.
