Ball Reports Strong 4Q, Full-Year 2023 Results

Ball Corporation reported, on a U.S. GAAP basis, full-year 2023 net earnings attributable to the corporation of $707 million (including net after-tax charges of $213 million, or 67 cents per diluted share for business consolidation and other non-comparable items) or diluted earnings per share of $2.23, on sales of $14.03 billion.

This is compared to $719 million net earnings attributable to the corporation, or $2.25 per diluted share (including net after-tax charges of $172 million, or 53 cents per diluted share for business consolidation and other non-comparable items) on sales of $15.35 billion in 2022.

Ball’s full-year 2023 comparable net earnings were $920 million, or $2.90 per diluted share compared to $891 million, or $2.78 per diluted share in 2022.

Ball’s fourth quarter 2023 net earnings attributable to the corporation on a U.S. GAAP basis, were $154 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, on sales of $3.40 billion compared to $55 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, on sales of $3.55 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Ball’s fourth quarter 2023 comparable earnings per diluted share were 78 cents versus fourth quarter 2022 comparable earnings per diluted share of 44 cents.

“We delivered strong fourth quarter and full-year comparable operating earnings and free cash flow,” said Daniel W. Fisher, chairman and CEO. “The resiliency of our team amid a major brand disruption in North America, challenging year-over-year comparisons in EMEA following the 2022 Russian business sale, hyperinflationary effects in Argentina and activities associated with the ongoing aerospace sale process was outstanding.

“Those actions coupled with sequential volume improvement, operational efficiencies and the planned deployment of aerospace sale proceeds to reduce leverage and accelerate share repurchases, position the business for continued diluted earnings per share growth, strong free cash flow generation and return of value to shareholders in 2024 and beyond,” said Fisher.

On August 17, 2023, the company announced that it reached an agreement to sell its aerospace business to BAE Systems for gross proceeds of approximately $5.6 billion in cash. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and certain closing conditions and adjustments; therefore, prospective estimates for certain financial metrics provided in this release exclude any potential impact of the projected aerospace business sale.

“Our team achieved double-digit comparable operating earnings growth and generated $818 million of free cash flow in 2023,” said Howard Yu, EVP and CFO. “Looking ahead in 2024, incremental volume recovery and continuous improvement on cost management will drive comparable operating earnings and, strong free cash flow generation and approximately $4.5 billion of after-tax proceeds from the projected aerospace sale will be used to immediately reduce debt by approximately $2 billion driving leverage to in the range of 2.7x net debt to comparable EBITDA and, approximately $2 billion of proceeds will be used to increase return of value to shareholders via share buybacks and pay dividends moving forward.”

“In 2024, we are positioned to grow diluted earnings per share, generate strong free cash flow and accelerate return of value to shareholders. Looking ahead, we are focused on executing our enterprise-wide strategy with purpose and pace to advance sustainable aluminum packaging solutions at scale, win commercially through partnership and breakthrough innovation and unlock value within the organization by driving continuous process improvement and operational excellence. Together, we will strive to deliver innovative aluminum packaging solutions that can free the world from waste and embark on a path to deliver compounding shareholder returns in 2024 and beyond,” Fisher said.