Revenues at paper and packaging maker Smurfit Kappa rose 36% during the first half of the year to €6.4bn while profits increased 50% to €1.2bn at an EBITDA margin of 18.4%

Earnings per share at the Irish company grew 85% to just under 222 cent, and return on capital employed during the first six months of 2022 was 19.3%. The company has increased its interim dividend 8% to 31.6 cent per share.

Smurfit Kappa group CEO Tony Smurfit said the company had overcome inflation, supply chain issues and disruption from Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine over the past six months, and commented that he was pleased with the firm's performance.

“Our strong performance is a result of the many actions we have taken over a number of years. These actions include significant customer-focused investments to meet growth, providing the most innovative and sustainable paper-based packaging in the marketplace and selective acquisitions ensuring security of supply to our customers," Smurfit said.

“In the first half of 2022, we have overcome many challenges including sharply increasing input costs, logistics and supply chain constraints, COVID-19 disruption and the impact of the war in Ukraine.

In Association with

"SKG's integrated model, our geographic diversity, our continued focus on efficiency through investment and our bespoke business applications, have enabled us to offset these challenges together with paper and corrugated price recovery."

He added: “I am especially proud of the tremendous efforts of our people who continue to deliver for our customers under these circumstances. Our performance-led culture has allowed us to go from strength to strength, building on our leadership position in the markets in which we operate."

Europe accounted for €926m of earnings at a margin of 18.7% while the Americas made up €271m at 18.8%, and box volume growth for the first half was up 2.5% year-on-year.

(Pic: Getty Images)