Greif Reports First Quarter 2022 Results

DELAWARE, Ohio, March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Greif, Inc. (NYSE: GEF, GEF.B), a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, today announced first quarter 2022 results.

First Quarter Financial Highlights include (all results compared to the first quarter of 2021 unless otherwise noted):

• Net income of $10.3 million or $0.18 per diluted Class A share decreased compared to net income of $23.4 million or $0.40 per diluted Class A share. Net income, excluding the impact of adjustments⁽¹⁾, of $75.6 million or $1.28 per diluted Class A share increased compared to net income, excluding the impact of adjustments, of $35.9 million or $0.61 per diluted Class A share.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽²⁾ of $196.8 million, an increase of $58.3 million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $138.5 million.
• Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $10.9 million to $22.4 million. Adjusted free cash flow⁽³⁾ decreased by $7.3 million to a use of $18.8 million.
• Total debt decreased by $242.6 million to $2,296.8 million. Net debt⁽⁴⁾ decreased by $260.9 million to $2,177.1 million. The Company's leverage ratio⁽⁵⁾ decreased to 2.39x from 3.79x and from 2.49x at year-end.

Strategic Actions and Announcements

• Completed our planned Chief Executive Officer transition and announced new executive leadership team
• Announced a definitive agreement to divest our 50% equity interest in the Flexible Products & Services joint venture to Gulf Refined Packaging ("the FPS Divestiture") for $123 million, subject to post-closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to close by March 31, 2022
• Redeemed our $500 million 6.5% 2027 senior notes on March 1 with proceeds from our refinanced credit facilities, which were expanded and extended for an additional 5 years and include an ESG-linked feature that ties our borrowing cost to Greif's EcoVadis rating. The net result is a reduction in Greif's anticipated annual interest expense of approximately $15 million
• Received a gold medal rating for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance from EcoVadis, a multinational CSR ratings agency, for the fourth year in a row
• Announced that Investor Day 2022 will be held on June 23, 2022 in New York City

CEO Commentary

"Our team delivered an outstanding first quarter," said Ole Rosgaard, Greif's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Through disciplined operational execution and a sharp focus on the areas within our control, we generated record financial results while navigating the still challenging and volatile operating environment. In addition, we solidified our leverage position and announced the agreement to sell our 50% ownership stake in Flexible Products and Services business for outstanding value. Looking ahead, we are increasing our Fiscal 2022 guidance based on our strong start and positive outlook for the remainder of the year."

Customer Service

The Company's consolidated CSI⁽⁶⁾ score was 93.7 during the fiscal first quarter and 93.6 on a trailing four quarter basis. Our long term objective is for each business segment to achieve a CSI score of 95.0 or greater.

CSI for the Global Industrial Packaging segment was 94.7, flat to the prior year quarter.

CSI for the Paper Packaging & Services segment was 92.2, 3.9% higher than the prior year quarter.

Segment Results (all results compared to the first quarter of 2021 unless otherwise noted)

Net sales are impacted mainly by the volume of primary products⁽⁷⁾ sold, selling prices, product mix and the impact of changes in foreign currencies against the U.S. Dollar. The table below shows the percentage impact of each of these items on net sales for our primary products for the first quarter of 2022 as compared to the prior year quarter for the business segments with manufacturing operations.

Global Industrial Packaging

Net sales increased by $289.8 million to $949.1 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation increased by $315.2 million primarily due to higher volumes and higher average sales prices.

Gross profit increased by $46.8 million to $177.1 million. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales, partially offset by higher raw material costs.

Operating profit decreased by $23.0 million to $31.0 million due to a $62.4 million non-cash impairment charge related to the anticipated FPS Divestiture, offset by the same factors that impacted gross profit. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $34.7 million to $114.2 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted gross profit.

Paper Packaging & Services

Net sales increased by $129.1 million to $610.0 million. Net sales excluding foreign currency translation increased by $128.9 million primarily due to higher volumes and higher published containerboard and boxboard prices.

Gross profit increased by $31.2 million to $110.8 million. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to the same factors that impacted net sales, partially offset by higher raw material, transportation and utility costs.

Operating profit increased by $24.0 million to $38.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $24.4 million to $80.5 million primarily due to the same factors that impacted gross profit.

Land Management

Net sales decreased by $1.1 million to $5.2 million due to less timber being available for sale as a result of acreage sold in the prior year.

Operating profit increased by $1.0 million to $2.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $0.8 million to $2.1 million.

Tax Summary

During the first quarter, the Company recorded an income tax rate of 67.3 percent, which was significantly impacted by the non-deductible nature of the non-cash impairment recorded in the quarter for the anticipated FPS divestiture as well as the mix of jurisdictional income and less positive impact of discrete tax items. The Company's tax rate excluding the impact of adjustments was 30.7 percent. Note that the application of FIN 18 frequently causes fluctuations in our quarterly effective tax rates. For fiscal 2022, the Company expects its tax rate to range between 28.0 and 32.0 percent and its tax rate excluding adjustments to range between 22.0 and 25.0 percent.

Dividend Summary

On March 1, 2022, the Board of Directors declared quarterly cash dividends of $0.46 per share of Class A Common Stock and $0.69 per share of Class B Common Stock. Dividends are payable on April 1, 2022, to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 17, 2022.

Company Outlook

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2022 results on March 3, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). Participants may access the call using the following online registration link: https://conferencingportals.com/event/BDwosPDa. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing dial in details and a unique conference call code for entry. Phone lines will open at 8:00 a.m. ET on March 3, 2022. A digital replay of the conference call will be available two hours following the call on the company's web site at https://investor.greif.com. To access the recording, guests can call (800) 770-2030 or (647) 362-9199 and use the conference ID 32605.

Investor Day 2022 Details

Investor Day 2022 will be held on Thursday, June 23, 2022 at Convene at 75 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Registration and breakfast will begin at 8AM ET and the event will start at 9AM ET. Greif's President and Chief Executive Officer Ole Rosgaard, Chief Financial Officer Larry Hilsheimer and members of Greif's executive leadership team will provide an overview of the Company; discuss ongoing business performance and the Build to Last strategy; and conduct a forum for questions and answers. A live webcast for the event will also be conducted and details will be provided in June 2022. For additional information or early registration, please contact InvestorDay@greif.com.

Investor Relations contact information

Matt Eichmann, Vice President, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer, 740-549-6067. Matt.eichmann@greif.com

Matt Leahy, Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations, 740-549-6158. Matthew.leahy@greif.com

About Greif

Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services and is pursuing its vision: to be the best performing customer service company in the world. The Company produces steel, plastic and fibre drums, intermediate bulk containers, reconditioned containers, flexible products, containerboard, uncoated recycled paperboard, coated recycled paperboard, tubes and cores and a diverse mix of specialty products. The Company also manufactures packaging accessories and provides filling, packaging and other services for a wide range of industries. In addition, Greif manages timber properties in the southeastern United States. The Company is strategically positioned in over 40 countries to serve global as well as regional customers. Additional information is on the Company's website at www.greif.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "aspiration," "objective," "project," "believe," "continue," "on track" or "target" or the negative thereof and similar expressions, among others, identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, expectations and other information currently available to management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those forecasted, projected or anticipated, whether expressed or implied. The most significant of these risks and uncertainties are described in Part I of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements have a reasonable basis, the Company can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those forecasted, projected or anticipated, whether expressed in or implied by the statements. Such risks and uncertainties that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) historically, our business has been sensitive to changes in general economic or business conditions, (ii) our global operations subject us to political risks, instability and currency exchange that could adversely affect our results of operations, (iii) the COVID-19 pandemic could continue to impact any combination of our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, (iv) the current and future challenging global economy and disruption and volatility of the financial and credit markets may adversely affect our business, (v) the continuing consolidation of our customer base and suppliers may intensify pricing pressure, (vi) we operate in highly competitive industries, (vii) our business is sensitive to changes in industry demands and customer preferences, (viii) raw material, price fluctuations, global supply chain disruptions and inflation may adversely impact our results of operations, (ix) energy and transportation price fluctuations and shortages may adversely impact our manufacturing operations and costs, (x) the frequency and volume of our timber and timberland sales will impact our financial performance, (xi) we may not successfully implement our business strategies, including achieving our growth objectives, (xii) we may encounter difficulties or liabilities arising from acquisitions or divestitures, (xiii) we may incur additional rationalization costs and there is no guarantee that our efforts to reduce costs will be successful, (xiv) several operations are conducted by joint ventures that we cannot operate solely for our benefit, (xv) certain of the agreements that govern our joint ventures provide our partners with put or call options, (xvi) our ability to attract, develop and retain talented and qualified employees, managers and executives is critical to our success, (xvii) our business may be adversely impacted by work stoppages and other labor relations matters, (xviii) we may be subject to losses that might not be covered in whole or in part by existing insurance reserves or insurance coverage and general insurance premium and deductible increases, (xix) our business depends on the uninterrupted operations of our facilities, systems and business functions, including our information technology and other business systems, (xx) a security breach of customer, employee, supplier or Company information and data privacy risks and costs of compliance with new regulations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, (xxi) we could be subject to changes to our tax rates, the adoption of new U.S. or foreign tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities, (xxii) full realization of our deferred tax assets may be affected by a number of factors, (xxiii) we have a significant amount of goodwill and long-lived assets which, if impaired in the future, would adversely impact our results of operations, (xxiv) our pension and post-retirement plans are underfunded and will require future cash contributions and our required future cash contributions could be higher than we expect, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and liquidity, (xxv) legislation/regulation related to environmental and health and safety matters and corporate social responsibility could negatively impact our operations and financial performance, (xxvi) product liability claims and other legal proceedings could adversely affect our operations and financial performance, (xxvii) we may incur fines or penalties, damage to our reputation or other adverse consequences if our employees, agents or business partners violate, or are alleged to have violated, anti-bribery, competition or other laws, (xxviii) changing climate, global climate change regulations and greenhouse gas effects may adversely affect our operations and financial performance, (xxix) we may be unable to achieve our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by 2030. The risks described above are not all-inclusive, and given these and other possible risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. For a detailed discussion of the most significant risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those forecasted, projected or anticipated, see "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of our most recently filed Form 10-K and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to such risk factors. Except to the limited extent required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Greif, Inc.