{"id":10049,"date":"2025-10-30T04:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=10049"},"modified":"2025-10-30T04:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:51:19","slug":"smurfit-westrock-in-profit-but-trims-outlook-over-planned-downtime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packagingindustrynews.com\/?p=10049","title":{"rendered":"Smurfit Westrock in profit but trims outlook over planned downtime"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per ordinary share. Credit: Piotr Swat \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Smurfit Westrock has swung back to profit in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 but has cut its full\u2011year guidance, citing planned downtime.<\/p>\n

The paper\u2011based packaging group reported a net income of $245m for the quarter ended 30 September 2025, a reversal from a $150m loss in the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n

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Quarterly net sales were $8bn, up from $7.67bn in Q3 2024.<\/p>\n

Net cash provided by operating activities was $1.13bn, versus $320m a year ago. Adjusted free cash flow for the three months to September stood at $579m, compared with $118m in Q3 2024.<\/p>\n

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased to $1.3bn in the quarter, delivering a 16.3% margin, marginally lower than the 16.5% margin in Q3 2024.<\/p>\n

Smurfit Westrock president and CEO Tony Smurfit stated: \u201cI am pleased to report that for the third quarter, we delivered in-line with our adjusted EBITDA guidance. This performance was driven by the continued operational and commercial improvements in our North American business and our strong positions in EMEA [Europe and the Middle East], APAC [Asia Pacific] and Latin America.\u201d<\/p>\n

The North America business posted a 17.2% adjusted EBITDA margin with Latin America at 21.3%, and EMEA and APAC at 14.8%.<\/p>\n

However, the company cut its full\u2011year adjusted EBITDA forecast to a range of $4.9bn to $5.1bn, down from a range of $5bn to $5.2bn.<\/p>\n

Smurfit Westrock president and CEO Tony Smurfit stated: \u201cThe year to date has been characterised by a challenging demand backdrop and as a result we expect to take additional economic downtime in the fourth quarter to optimise our system.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 2026, the company projects capital expenditure of $2.4bn to $2.5bn.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis level of spend allows us to continue optimising our asset base, accelerating cost take-out and capitalising high-growth areas,\u201d added Smurfit.<\/p>\n

The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per ordinary share, payable on 18 December 2025.<\/p>\n

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