NEWS


Simona sales rise in 2019 on back of strong growth in North America


Simona of Germany – which makes both extruded sheet and pipe – grew both sales last year, due mainly to a solid performance in North America. The company posted


revenues of nearly €433 million (US$462m), a rise of more than 3%. Despite this increase, poor sales in Europe saw the company fall just short of its target revenue figure of €435- 450m (US$464-480m). For the same period,


profitability (EBIT) fell by around 11% to just over €29m (US$31m).


“Given the economic fundamentals, we are satisfied with our EBIT margin of 6.8%,” said the company.


It also said that EBIT for the first quarter of 2020 has risen to nearly €10m


Schoenberg: “Solid earnings performance in the first quarter of 2020 shows we are on the right track”


(compared with around €8m, in 2019), despite the initial impact of the Corona- virus pandemic. Revenue growth in 2019 was due almost entirely to business in the USA. The first-time inclusion of its extrusion subsidiary Simona PMC for a full annual period


Huhtamaki grows in first quarter of 2020


Packaging giant Huhtamaki saw a 5% increase in sales for the first quarter of this year. Revenues reached €845m (US$902m) for the period, due mainly to solid demand for food packaging. For the same period, adjusted EBITDA was €117m (US$125m), a rise of of around 9%. The company saw a 12% in sales growth in North America to exceed €286m (US$305m), while flexible


www.filmandsheet.com


packaging sales grew 8% to €271m (US$289m). How- ever, Foodservice sales fell by 5% to around €218m (US$233m). “The solid performance in Q1 was marked by contrast: while good demand for food packaging continued, the outbreak of Covid-19 quickly transformed the overall business context,” said Charles Héaulmé, president and CEO of Huhtamaki. � www.huhtamaki.com


helped drive sales in the region up by nearly 16% to almost €132m (US$141m) – a rise of nearly 16%. The Americas region as a whole saw its share of revenue increase to more than 30%. In Europe, sales fell by 1.5% to almost €270m (US$288m) due to a downturn in the economy in the second half of the year. In Asia, business perfor- mance was influenced by a weak first quarter, though sales rose more than 2% to nearly €31m (US$33m) for the year.


In its semi-finished


products division – which includes plastic sheet – sales grew more than 3% to exceed €344m (US$367m) due to solid business in aircraft interiors. Sales of PVC foam sheets for applications in digital


printing and construction fell year on year – though this has begun to pick up again. For comparison, its pipes


and fittings division in- creased sales by 5% to exceed €88m (US$94m). “Our solid earnings performance in the first quarter of 2020 illustrates that we are on the right track with the strategic projects aimed at an application- and process- driven realignment of our semi- finished parts busi- ness in Europe,” said Matthias Schoenberg, CEO of Simona. “Due to the uniqueness of the coronavi- rus pandemic, we are not able to draw on fundamen- tal data that would allow a reliable forecast for the year as a whole.” � www.simona.de


California reverses bag ban for 60 days


California has temporarily reversed its ban on single-use plastic bags in an attempt to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.


Gavin Newsom, governor of California – which is the


USA’s most populous state – signed an executive order to reverse the ban on 22 April. The statewide ban on single-use plastic bags has been in place since 2014. The bag ban will be lifted for 60 days, to stop customers


from bringing their own reusable bags to shops. During this time, shops will provide bags free of charge. The move is “critical to protect the public health and safety and minimize the risk of Covid-19 exposure for work- ers engaged in essential activities, such as those handling reusable grocery bags”, said the order.


May 2020 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 5


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