Crown profits hit by $74m in charges over last six months

19-Jul-2011 - Last updated on 16-Mar-2017 at 07:14 GMT

Crown Holdings’ reported a 13 per cent profit growth over the past six months, however the manufacturer also revealed a hit of $74m (€52m) in gross charges.

Gross profit for the six month period improved to $663m compared to $585m in the same period in 2010, reported Crown.

The firm said the increase reflected global sales unit volume growth, ongoing productivity improvements and $18m of favourable foreign currency translation.

Charges

The $74m in charges were partly attributed to restructuring charges of $25m, which were primarily related to the relocation of Crown’s European headquarters from France to Switzerland, said the firm.

Crown said it was also met with a tax charge of $17m.

In addition, during the first half of 2011, the company reported losses of $32m in connection with the early extinguishment of its $600m senior secured notes due 2015 and its first priority senior secured notes due September 2011.

Second Quarter

However, the firm also posted positive second quarter results with a gross profit growth of 11 per cent from $335m to $371m.

"We are pleased to report that our operations continued to perform well in the second quarter. Our robust pipeline of emerging market growth projects remains on schedule and budget,” said John Conway, chairman and CEO.

"2011 is shaping up to be another strong year for Crown. Looking ahead, we believe new growth opportunities will continue to arise. In pursuing those opportunities we remain committed to responsible deployment of capital by growing with our international and regional customers to meet long term demand in the most promising emerging markets,” he added.