Amcor plc

Amcor plc makes consumer packaging, including flexible packs, rigid containers, closures and dispensing products for food, healthcare, beauty and other markets. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange as AMCR and on the Australian Securities Exchange through CDIs as AMC. The company is incorporated in Jersey.

Amcor completed the acquisition of Berry Global on April 30, 2025. Both September quarters in the table below include Berry. Amcor is moving from a June to a December year-end: July 1 through December 31, 2026 is a six-month transition period, followed by a full calendar reporting year in 2027.

The latest operating performance

The 7% reported sales increase includes $435 million of raw-material cost recovery, a $16 million currency benefit and a $112 million reduction from divestitures. The remaining $45 million increase reflects higher volumes. Company-wide volume growth was about 1%, or 1.5% excluding non-core and divested businesses.

Flexible Packaging sales were $3.36 billion and adjusted EBIT was $414 million, versus $409 million. Rigid Packaging sales were $2.77 billion and adjusted EBIT was $303 million, versus $312 million. The group's adjusted measures remove acquired-intangible amortization, restructuring and integration expenses, and specified other items.

What changed in the forecast

Amcor lowered adjusted earnings per share for the July–December transition period to $1.70–$1.80 from the $1.80–$1.90 forecast issued in August. It attributes the reduction to delays passing higher energy and distribution costs through to customers. The original August call had assumed pricing would offset inflation. Management says recovery actions are underway and expects no effect on 2027 results.

Expected December 2026 leverage is now about 3.6 times, compared with a previous range of 3.5–3.6 times. September leverage was 3.76 times. This company-defined measure divides net debt by trailing adjusted EBITDA plus share-based compensation.

The company reaffirmed double-digit adjusted earnings growth for calendar 2027 and a year-end leverage target of about 3 times. It expects most of the Berry benefits target to be achieved during that year. These are the next major milestones to assess alongside cost recovery and cash generation.

Cash, borrowing and distributions

September-quarter operating cash outflow was $527 million, versus $133 million a year earlier. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used $1.175 billion, versus $718 million. Capital spending was $301 million, versus $238 million. Amcor's separately defined free cash flow was negative $820 million, versus negative $343 million, after Berry-related cash costs.

Management attributes the weaker cash flow primarily to working capital, including more inventory and receivables linked to Middle East-related raw-material volatility. It expects to recover a cumulative conflict-related cash impact of more than $500 million by the end of calendar 2027.

The company reported $1.32 billion undrawn under its $3.75 billion bank facility and compliance with its bank covenants. The facilities also back its commercial-paper borrowing. Amcor redeemed $300 million of notes in September; overall debt nevertheless increased during the quarter.

Amcor paid $300 million in dividends during the quarter. It then declared a $0.66 quarterly dividend, compared with a split-adjusted $0.65 a year earlier, payable December 16 to November 25 record holders. No public share-repurchase program was active during the quarter; $29 million of share purchases supplied employee awards.

Berry integration and the changing portfolio

The completed Berry deal had purchase consideration of $10.397 billion, including $2.190 billion of debt repaid at closing, plus approximately $5.2 billion of debt assumed. Amcor continues to target $650 million in combined benefits: $530 million of pretax cost savings, $60 million of annual financial benefits and $60 million of pretax earnings from growth initiatives.

September-quarter benefits totaled about $60 million, comprising $50 million of operating benefits and $10 million of financial benefits. The transition-period target is about $130 million, including approximately $70 million expected in the December quarter.

Amcor's latest presentation describes six business-sale agreements with an aggregate transaction value of about $500 million, five completed. Its annual report separately identifies four portfolio business sales completed by June for $298 million of cash consideration, plus $40 million of deferred consideration, and the January sale of its ePac investment for estimated proceeds of $79 million including contingent and deferred amounts. The aggregate agreement value includes an uncompleted sale.