Owens-Illinois reported 25 July 2007 that its 2Q/07 net profit more than tripled to US$ 149.7M (US$ 42.6M) for the 2Q/06. The increase was mainly driven by improved glass plant operating performance, higher glass sales & favorable currency exchange rates. Glass container operations reported net sales of US$ 1.997BN for 2Q/07 (US$ 1.745BN), an increase of US$ 252.2M Improved volume, product sales mix & prices accounted for an increase of 9.2%, while favorable currency translation accounted for the balance. "This quarter's positive results clearly reflect the ongoing progress that our team is achieving with productivity & cost improvement initiatives", said Al Stroucken, chairman & CEO. "We are in the process of restructuring our business to strengthen our balance sheet & to improve liquidity & capital spending on a global scale. Completing the sale of our Plastics Packaging business will be a significant step toward this goal. We will use the net proceeds from that sale to reduce the company's debt". Banc of America Securities analyst George L. Staphos said in a note to investors that the results were impressive not just because the company beat Wall Street's expectations, but because the report is a sign that the company "gets it, finally, because of the new management team and approach". The earnings results improved on Wall Street analysts' expectations by more than USD 0.30 per share, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. Besides the big profit boost, the company also said its revenue rose 14%.
