Amcor's full-year results, released this week, revealed a profit of US$671.1 million (AU$879.42 million) – up 7.5 on a constant currency basis – and solid growth in both developed and emerging markets.
Amcor CEO Ron Delia said the results were evidence of the “defensiveness and resilience” of Amcor's businesses, with balanced growth across the portfolio.
"Growth was solid in both developed and emerging markets,” he said.
“There was a mix of growth from organic sources and from acquisitions, and both the flexibles and rigid plastics segments achieved higher results than the same period last year," he said.
"Cash generation remained solid, the balance sheet is strong, and returns exceeded 21 per cent for the first time.
"This enabled Amcor to redeploy US$1.2 billion of cash to generate value for shareholders through acquisitions, a share buyback, and by increasing the dividend."
Delia said the flexible packaging segment division had a "solid" year, with constant currency earnings growth of 7.2 per cent, while the rigid plastics business had an "outstanding" year with earnings up 9.7 per cent.
He said the outlook for fiscal 2017 is for "higher earnings" than fiscal 2016, expressed in constant currency terms.
Since June 2015, Amcor has announced or completed eight acquisitions in the US, Canada, South Africa, South America, China and India, and has invested in three dedicated greenfield facilities to support the growth of its customers.
