Ball Corp. reports Q3 comparable EPS 83c, consensus 80c

Reports Q3 revenue $3.57B, consensus $3.81B. “We delivered strong third quarter results. Improved operational efficiencies across our global aluminum packaging operations, inflationary cost recovery and benefits of cost-out actions offset higher interest costs and challenging year-over-year volume comparisons. During the third quarter, the initial phase of sequential improvement in our quarter-over-quarter global beverage can shipments emerged and was driven by double-digit volume growth in our Brazilian beverage can business. In North America, we further optimized our plant network to ensure proper supply/demand balance while continuing to enable access to high-quality, innovative aluminum beverage cans and bottles at a growth cadence appropriate for current market conditions and our customer mix. These actions and improved plant performance, in addition to deploying the aerospace sale proceeds to significantly reduce our leverage and increase share repurchases, serve as catalysts for higher shareholder returns,” said Daniel Fisher, chairman and chief executive officer.