SIG Group: Strong revenue and margin expansion, strategic investments supporting future growth

Samuel Sigrist, CEO of SIG Group AG, said: I am pleased to report a solid first half financial performance demonstrating the resilience of our business. We are recovering cost inflation and our adjusted EBITDA margin has improved despite the foreseen dilutive impact of acquisitions.

These acquisitions are meeting our expectations and we continue to identify and to realize cross-selling opportunities between our aseptic carton and bag-in-box, spouted pouch and chilled carton businesses. These, together with our strong pipeline of aseptic carton filling lines, will underpin robust revenue growth in the years ahead.

Given our strong pipeline and exciting growth opportunities we are investing to ensure we can capitalize on these developments. Our strategic investments include our first aseptic carton plants in Mexico and India, and we are expanding the emerging market presence of our bag-in-box and spouted pouch businesses, which in the past have been more focused on developed markets. Our portfolio is ideally suited to these markets where the demand for safe, sustainable and affordable food and beverages is constantly rising.

Sustainability drives SIG and we continually look to further develop our capabilities. We are a key partner for our customers as they seek to reduce the environmental impact of their businesses and demand for our most sustainable packaging structures is rising. Importantly, our ongoing investments in R&D are enabling us to advance our fibre-based packaging solutions. This is in line with our objective of packaging for better.

Outlook

Guidance for 2023 remains unchanged. The Company expects revenue growth of 20-22% at constant currency. Bag-in-box and spouted pouch will be consolidated for an additional five months and chilled carton for an additional seven months respectively (pass through resin escalators for the bag-in-box and the spouted pouch businesses are excluded from the guidance). Organic constant currency revenue growth for the aseptic carton business is expected to be 7-9%. Price increases in the carton business are expected to continue to contribute to top-line growth. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to increase by 50-150 basis points, implying a range of 24-25%. The expected improvement compared with 2022 is subject to input cost and foreign currency volatility. Net capital expenditure is forecast to be within a range of 7-9% of revenue and the dividend pay-out ratio is expected to be within a range of 50-60% of adjusted net income.