The Amcor PLC (ASX: AMC) share price is tumbling today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) plastic packaging giant closed yesterday trading for $16.14. In morning trade on Friday, shares are changing hands for $15.78 apiece, down 2.3%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is up 1.3% at this same time.
This underperformance comes following the release of Amcor's full-year results for the 12 months ending 30 June (FY 2024).
Here are the highlights.
(*Note, all figures are in US dollars.)
Amcor share price slides on falling sales
- Net sales of $13.64 billion, down 7% from FY 2023
- Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $1.56 billion, down 1% year on year
- Free cash flow of $952 million, up 12.2%
- Quarterly dividend of 12.5 US cents per share (cps), up from 12.25 US cps in the same quarter last year
What else happened with Amcor during the year?
The Amcor share price is catching some headwinds from the 7% decrease in full-year sales.
The company said movements in foreign exchange rates positively impacted its sales results. However, this was more than negated by items affecting comparability and an unfavourable impact of 1% related to the pass through of lower raw material costs of approximately $220 million.
In a positive trend, in the fourth quarter covering the three months to 30 June, Amcor's volumes returned to growth, up 1% year on year. But Q4 net sales of $3.54 billion were still down 4% from the prior corresponding quarter.
Passive income investors looking to cash in on the boosted quarterly dividend will need to own shares at market close on 4 September. Amcor shares trade ex-dividend on 5 September.
Over the full year, Amcor paid out a total of 50.0 US cents per share, returning some $750 million to shareholders through cash dividends and share repurchases.
What did management say?
Commenting on the results that have yet to lift the Amcor share price today, CEO Peter Konieczny said:
Amcor finished fiscal 2024 strongly, as the underlying business delivered another sequential improvement in volume and earnings growth, with fourth quarter adjusted EPS up 9%, ahead of the expectations we set out in April.
Volumes returned to year on year growth in the quarter as customer demand improved and our teams maintained their outstanding focus on managing costs, driving strong margin expansion. Annual adjusted free cash flow was at the top end of our guidance range and up 12% on last year.
What's next?
Looking at what could impact the Amcor share price in the year ahead, the company is forecasting FY 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 72 to 76 cents per share. That compares favourably to the adjusted EPS of 70.2 cps achieved in FY 2024.
Amcor expects FY 2025 adjusted free cash flow of between $900 million and $1.0 billion, similar to FY 2024.
"In fiscal 2025, we expect volumes and earnings will grow and adjusted free cash flow will remain strong," Konieczny said.
He added:
Importantly, combined with our historical average dividend yield, growth at the midpoint of our EPS guidance range results in total value creation in-line with our shareholder value creation model 10-15% range.
Amcor share price snapshot
With today's intraday losses factored in, the Amcor share price remains up 12% so far in 2024.
