Ardagh Glass Group increased its 2007 profit 38% to EUR 232 million, closing the gap on US rival Owens-Illinois and gaining a positive outlook from ratings agency Standard & Poors. Ardagh is growing fast after completing an acquisition of Rexam in 2007. This helped the firm to grow EBITDA from EUR 168 million in 2006. The latest earnings figures mean Ardagh is not far behind Ohio-based Owens-Illinois in earnings terms. In 2007, the US firm achieved profits of EUR 279.4M from its European operations. In the week ending 10 May 2008, Standard & Poors produced a fresh note on Ardagh. While accepting the company is highly leveraged, Standard & Poors said Ardagh was capable of growing earnings and had managed to pass on higher raw material costs to customers. At the end of 2007, Ardagh had net debt of EUR 935M.
