WestRock Company announced results for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30,2018. Net sales increased by $442 million, or 12%, and Segment EBITDA by $177 million, or 30%, compared to the prior year quarter. The increase in net sales was primarily attributable to $129 million of increased Corrugated Packaging Segment sales driven principally by higher selling price/mix and $324 million of increased Consumer Packaging segment sales, primarily due to the contribution from the Multi Packaging Solutions International Limited acquisition.
The Corrugated Packaging Segment EBITDA increased by $111 million, or 30%, compared to the prior year quarter. The segment delivered a Segment EBITDA margin of 21.2% and a North American Adjusted Segment EBITDA margin of 23.0%, up 390 and 420 basis points, respectively, compared to the prior year quarter.
The company is continuing integration planning for the acquisition of KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp., which is expected to close by the end of the calendar year, subject to obtaining antitrust clearance in the United States, KapStone stockholder approval and customary closing conditions.
“Our WestRock team delivered significant margin and cash flow improvement in the third fiscal quarter, evidence that our strategy, operational performance, and productivity efforts are delivering value for our stockholders,” said Steve Voorhees, Chief Executive Officer. “With our productivity performance in the quarter, we achieved our goal of a run rate of more than $1 billion of synergy and performance improvements. We are on track to achieve our financial goals for the year and are well positioned to build on our success in fiscal 2019.”
