Sonoco returns to profit in Q4 2025

Sonoco has posted an attributable net income of $332.2m in the fourth quarter of 2025, rebounding from a $43m loss in the same period last year.

The packaging business’s operating profit increased to $520.2m for the three months to December 2025, from $56.1m a year earlier.

Diluted earnings per share stood at $3.33, from a loss of $0.44 per share, largely reflecting gains from the sale of a business.

Quarterly net sales totalled $1.8bn, representing a 29.7% rise, with acquisition activity as the main driver.

The consumer segment’s net sales saw growth of 62.1%, attributed to Sonoco’s Metal Packaging EMEA business, following the completion of the Eviosys acquisition, along with pricing actions.

Net sales for the industrial segment were steady at $568m; price increases were offset by reduced sales from prior divestitures and minor volume declines.

Operating cash flow was reported at $413m for the quarter and $690m for the full year, including one-time tax payments of $196m related to asset sales.

In November 2025, Sonoco finalised the sale of its ThermoSafe business unit to Arsenal Capital Partners, generating gross proceeds of $656m.

During the quarter, net debt was reduced by $965m and by $2.7bn for the year overall, bringing net leverage to approximately three times net debt to adjusted EBITDA.

Full-year results showed net income of $1bn in 2025, an increase of 511.8% from $164m in 2024. In addition, total net sales grew by 41.7% across 2025.

Net sales of the consumer packaging division nearly doubled, increasing 92.5% to reach $4.8bn, while industrial packaging’s net sales slipped by 2.1% to $2.2bn.

For 2026, Sonoco expects adjusted diluted earnings per share between $5.80 and $6.20 and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $1.25bn to $1.35bn. Operating cash flow is forecast at between $700m and $800m.

Sonoco also plans changes to its reporting structure in 2026, with industrial plastics packaging included under Industrial Paper Packaging moving forward.

The company said that this new structure “appropriately represents the management of its business portfolio going forward”.

Sonoco president and CEO Howard Coker said: “Our Sonoco team executed well despite a difficult macroeconomic environment, delivering strong operating results, reducing net debt by approximately 40% year-over-year and lowering the company’s net leverage ratio to approximately 3.0x.

“In addition, we substantially concluded our portfolio transformation following the successful divestiture of ThermoSafe and further simplified our consumer packaging segment by consolidating our global metal packaging and rigid paper containers businesses into a single integrated structure — driven geographically — which we believe enhances our consumer go-to-market strategy, focuses our technology expertise and drives additional synergies across our global channels.”