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spk05: standby, we're about to begin. Good day and welcome to the Silden Holdings Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to send the conference over to Mr. Alex Hutter. Please go ahead.
spk08: Thank you and good morning. Joining me on the call today are Adam Greenlee, President and CEO, Bob Lewis, EVP of Corporate Development and Administration, and Kim Ulmer, SVP and CFO. Before we begin the call today, we would like to make it clear that certain statements made on this conference call may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made based upon management's expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the company and, therefore, involve a number of uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, those described in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for 2023 and other filings for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, the actual results of operations or financial condition of the company could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. In addition, commentary on today's call may contain references to certain non-GAAP financial metrics, including adjusted EBIT, free cash flow, and adjusted net income per diluted share. Reconciliation of these metrics, which should not be considered substitutes for similar GAAP metrics, can be found in today's press release under non-GAAP financial information in the investor relations section of our website at silganholdings.com. With that, let me turn it over to Adam.
spk03: Thank you, Alex. And we'd like to welcome everyone to Silgan's second quarter 2024 earnings call. The second quarter continued to display the strength of our portfolio with another quarter of strong financial performance in our businesses and significant progress towards our long-term strategic objectives. We delivered second quarter adjusted EPS above the midpoint of our estimated range with improving volume trends across all of our segments and strong operational and cost performance driving our results as the Silgan team remains focused on executing our plans for 2024 and beyond. After several quarters of destocking trends for our food and beverage products, we are particularly encouraged that our customers' order patterns appear to be returning to more normal levels and, as expected, have led to the positive inflection in our volume trends in the second quarter. As demand for our product continues to recouple with what had been resilient in-market demand, we expect this momentum to carry into the second half of the year. Additionally, we are pleased to have recently announced an agreement to acquire VaynerPackaging, a best-in-class differentiated dispensing business with very attractive margins and strong organic growth that has all the hallmarks of our highly successful dispensing acquisitions in the past, including Westrock's dispensing business, Albea Dispensing, Gateway, and UNICEF. Our capital deployment model is a key component of the Silgan value creation story, and we're encouraged that after several years of M&A market challenges and macro uncertainty, during which time we were able to create value with outstanding performance and by returning capital to our shareholders, it now appears that value, earnings, and return accretive transactions are becoming more actionable. We continue to believe that Silgan is advantageously positioned to win in this M&A market backdrop and create value for our shareholders as a result of our ability to act with speed and certainty, our long track record of achieving value enhancing synergies, our access to capital, and our ability to rapidly deleverage as a result of our strong free cash flow. We're excited that Vayner represents such a clear cultural fit with our company. and expect the combination to help drive incremental organic growth well into the future. Turning now to the second quarter results for our segments, our dispensing and specialty closure segment delivered another quarter of strong results as demand for our global dispensing products remains at a high level, with double-digit volume growth driven by continued success in the marketplace. Our market-leading innovation, manufacturing, and service capabilities continue to drive demand for our products that outpaces market growth and in some cases currently exceed their own ability to supply certain portions of the market. Consumer demand for our food and beverage products improved sequentially and year over trends also improved from the first quarter as our customers stocking activities appear to have come to an end and promotional activity has been more pervasive in the market for many of our beverage customers products during the seasonal peak demand of the summer months. We are on track for stronger year over year trends in the food and beverage closures in the second half of the year as demand for our products more accurately resembles in market demand. In metal containers, our year-over-year volumes show growth driven by pet food and soup, and we anticipate continued growth in these and other products for the remainder of 2024. We continue to make progress on our cost reduction initiatives during the quarter, but as expected, the impact of lower production and less inventory build in the second quarter due to the previously discussed reduction in a large pack customer's plans for 2024 led to underabsorbed fixed costs in the quarter that impacted our financial results. Our custom container segment delivered strong results in the second quarter with 7% volume growth as a result of improving market demand, the successful commercialization of new business in the first quarter, and the early commercialization of the second new business award in the second quarter. Turning now to our outlook for the full year of 2024, we continue to believe the business is positioned to deliver volume and profit growth and are pleased to confirm our estimates for the year, which includes EPS growth of 7% at the midpoint of our guidance range. We continue to expect dispensing and specialty closures volumes to grow by a mid single digit rate with high single digit growth in our dispensing products and low single digit growth in our closure products, driving better profitability for the segment through an improved mix. In metal containers, we continue to expect volume growth with mid single digit growth in pet food, which represents approximately half of our total volume offset by lower fruit and vegetable volumes as a result of the previously discussed decision by a PAC customer to reduce their volumes in 2024 to reduce their working capital. In addition to the unfavorable fixed cost absorption in our system we experienced in the second quarter, the impact of growth in pet food and fewer than normal vegetable can sales will drive a less favorable mix in the third quarter. Custom containers volumes are expected to grow by low to mid single digit percentage as destocking trends appear to have concluded. Market demand remains solid and new commercial awards continue to provide incremental volume and profit contribution through the year. We are encouraged we are on track to deliver another year of strong financial results for the company, with success in our strategic growth initiatives driving tangible improvements in our results. Additionally, we're pleased that our capital deployment model continues to yield opportunities to grow our company at attractive returns and drive organic growth and margin improvement. With that, Kim will take you through the financials for the quarter and our estimates for the third quarter and full year of 2024. Thank you, Adam.
spk01: As Adam discussed, we delivered strong results in the second quarter that were consistent with our expectations. with adjusted EPS above the midpoint of our expected range. Net sales of approximately $1.4 billion declined 3% from the prior year period, driven primarily by the pass through of lower raw material costs, mostly in our metal containers business. Total adjusted EBIT for the quarter of $165 million increased by 3% on a year-over-year basis, primarily due to higher volume in each of the segments. Higher adjusted EBIT in dispensing and specialty closures and custom containers offset expected lower adjusted EBIT in the metal container segment. Adjusted net income per deluded share with $0.88, a 6% increase from $0.83 in the prior year quarter, with higher adjusted EBIT and lower interest costs partially offset by a higher tax rate. Turning to our segments, sales in our dispensing and specialty closure segment increased 1% versus the prior year quarter, primarily as a result of higher volume mix of 3% which was partially offset by the pass-through of lower raw material costs and unfavorable foreign currency. The increase in volume mix was driven primarily by double-digit growth in dispensing products and favorable mix. Second quarter dispensing and specialty closures adjusted EBIT increased $16 million versus the prior year period driven by favorable price costs, partially as a result of the prior year impact from labor challenges that limited output at a U.S. food and beverage closures facility and improved volume and mix. our metal container segment sales declined to eight percent versus the prior year quarter primarily due to the pass-through of lower raw material costs which was partially offset by higher volumes of one percent as expected metal containers adjusted ebit was below the prior year quarter due to the impact of unfavorable price costs including mix as a result of lower fixed cost absorption from a significantly lower inventory bill for the fruit and vegetable pack due to the previously discussed reduction impact plans of a large fruit and vegetable customer to reduce its working capital. In custom containers, sales increased 6% compared to the prior year quarter, driven by a 7% increase in volumes as a result of stronger market demand and the early commercialization of the second new business award during the quarter. Custom containers adjusted EBIT increased $4 million as compared to the second quarter of 2023, driven by higher volumes. Looking ahead to 2024, we are confirming our estimate of adjusted net income for diluted share in the range of $3.55 to $3.75, a 7% increase at the midpoint of the range as compared to $3.40 in 2023. This estimate includes corporate expense of approximately $30 million, excluding costs for announced acquisitions, which is above our prior estimate of $25 million due to higher legal and corporate development costs. Also included in the adjusted EPS range for 2024 are interest expense of approximately $165 million, an adjusted tax rate of 24 to 25%, and a weighted average share count of approximately 107 million shares. From a segment perspective, mint single digit percentage total adjusted EBIT growth in 2024 is expected to be driven primarily by the dispensing and specialty closures and custom container segments. with the metal container segment adjusted EBIT below the prior year record level, primarily due to the previously discussed reduction of PAC plans by a large fruit and vegetable customer. Based on our current earnings outlook for 2024, we are confirming our estimate of free cash flow of approximately $375 million, with CapEx of approximately $240 million in 2024. Turning to our outlook for the third quarter of 2024, we are providing an estimate of adjusted earnings in the range of $1.20 to $1.30 per diluted share, as compared to $1.16 in the prior year period. An 8% year-over-year improvement in adjusted earnings in the third quarter at the midpoint of the range is driven primarily by improving volume trends, cost reductions, and strong operating performance in each of the segments, partly offset by a less favorable mix in our metal container segment. Third quarter adjusted EBIT is expected to be above prior year levels in dispensing and specialty closures, with improved volume mix and price costs. Third quarter metal containers volumes are expected to be above the prior year level, while adjusted EBIT is expected to be below third quarter 2023. The year over year decline in metal containers adjusted EBIT is driven by a less favorable mix, predominantly due to lower than normal vegetable can sales with the previously discussed reduction in volume plans for a large pack customer and higher pet food sales in the quarter. Third quarter adjusted EBIT in the custom container segment is expected to be above prior year levels as a result of low to mid single digit volume growth. That concludes our prepared comments and we'll open the call for questions. Jennifer, would you kindly provide the directions for the question and answer session?
spk05: Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is turned off to allow your signal tree to our equipment. Again, press star one to ask a question. We'll pause for just a moment to allow everyone an opportunity to signal for questions. We'll go first to Ganshum Punjabi with Baird.
spk06: Hey, guys. Good morning. I guess on dispensing and specialty closures, I know you sell into a bunch of different end markets and so on. But a lot of the companies that have reported on the consumer discretionary side, health and beauty and fragrance, et cetera, they're pointing towards some level of a slowdown just given tougher comparisons and obviously mixed consumer spending. And I know you're lapping the destocking comps and so the optics are favorable, et cetera, but can you give us a better sense as to what's going on in the market from your vantage point at this point?
spk03: Sure. And I think we see a lot of the same reports and trends out in the marketplace. You really have to focus on where we choose to compete and win in the markets that we're serving. So, you know, I think fragrance and beauty is a great place to start. And, you know, we really don't participate in the mass market, fragrance and beauty. I know we've talked about that over time, but, you know, where we are very successful and where we continue to win new business in the fragrance and beauty side is at the very high end of that market. And that market continues to perform and do well, has new product launches, And I do think, Gancham, we're winning probably a disproportionate amount of the new product launches just given our performance over the last, call it four or five years. So, you know, we feel really good about that. And, you know, I think we talk about the power of our portfolio that, you know, it is a broad, I mean, you said it yourself, it's a broad base of markets and products that we take the market and we serve the markets with. So, you know, I think over time, if you go back over, call it the last five years, you've seen Joe Mahon, continued strength from silicon but maybe strengths in different markets as as we have worked through the last five years so. Joe Mahon, Lawn and gardens really good right now, you know we've got aerosol business that has i'd say more than fully recovered from what we were dealing with. Joe Mahon, And the stocking days our trigger sprayers are doing exceptionally well right now and a fully recovered so. Joe Mahon, You know I just maybe to try to give you a couple of examples there and, in all fairness, you know that's more than offsetting. sort of the continued, I think, challenge market that we're seeing in our food and beverage products. Again, they're recovering, but they have not recovered to the same level as some of the other markets that I just described.
spk06: Got it. And then in terms of consumer promotional activity, I mean, you know, obviously there's been many levels of theorization, and we're seeing some initial signs just based on some of the other reports. But as you think about your end markets between North America and Europe, Are you seeing a sustainable trend there, or is it still just a minor relative to last year?
spk03: Well, I think it's a positive to last year. I'll give you a couple examples. I think the targeted promotional activity in our food business has been very successful, but it's on a targeted basis, so it hasn't lifted the entire category. I'll give you another example. In our aerosol business on dispensing and specialty closures, there was a lot of activity on the promotional side for aerosol and this is for kind of air care and home care products etc and we saw it drive growth and i think the market saw saw growth in that category as well so i i think we're still optimistic um you know as we think about the remainder of this year you know i think promotional activity is going to be important i think the success of that promotional activity will be important as well but for us and our business i think We're seeing more of it, and we're seeing it be very effective when it's targeted. I'd also finish, Gansham, with the fact that, you know, we're in the middle of the summer months, and our beverage business typically does well when there's warm weather, and we need to see that promotional activity driving growth through the summer months as well.
spk06: Okay, fantastic. Thank you, Adam.
spk05: Thank you. We'll go next to George Staffos with Banks America.
spk12: Hi, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for the details and for taking the question. I guess first question, maybe I'll switch gears and we'll talk about metal a bit. And, you know, the commentary that you had in the first quarter was matched with performance in 2Q. But in terms of what your expectations were and volume expectations, did the quarter go pretty much as planned in metal? As you'd expected, was it better, was it worse? And if you could fill in some of the gaps here, that'd be great. Secondly, and you've touched on this in the past, to the extent that the metal container business in North America continues to evolve and PET keeps getting bigger, broadly can sizes keep getting smaller as a result, we've seen the fruit market shrink significantly. George Malavasic, You know what's next in terms of how you optimize that business relative to the way it's going to evolve in the next you know, two to four years, whatever you can share there would be great.
spk03: George Malavasic, Okay well thanks George you know the quarter and the second quarter just it may be slightly below our expectations. George Malavasic, Just in the metal container segment and and really. you know, the, the impact on our network of, of the, the volume decline due to the one pack customer that's reduced their volumes for 2024, um, was significant. It, it basically accounts for most of the entirety of, of the year over year, uh, change in the business. So, you know, think about our business and we, um, you know, we, uh, sorry, George, we, um, are fully utilized between q2 and q3 and where our additional capacity exists is is really in q1 and q4 so the utilization rates are always very very high in q2 and q3 and that's where we took the the the volume out as you know again you think about the pack volume basically those cans need to be ready at the end of q2 to sell in q3 when our customers need them so it was an outsized impact. And in fairness, we probably underestimated what that impact was just by a few million dollars as we came into the quarter. So then I think about when you move forward and kind of what's next, you mentioned fruit as a product that moved away from the can into an alternative package. And what we've consistently said, George, is that the products that are essentially processed in the can are really what's left in the can these days. So we think there's, you know, dry products have moved because it didn't require a can for processing. Fruit was a very similar example. But what's left in a food can, and particularly wet pet food, which, as you mentioned, you know, is over half of our volume is growing. You know, I look back over the last five years as an example, and, you know, our pet food volumes are up about 20%. So call it right in that mid-single-digit kind of range. And, you know, that's how I would talk about metal containers.
spk12: Right. So with that, does that, you know, maybe not tomorrow, but over the next, you know, few years mean that you'll look to adjust the network again? I'm not necessarily saying plant closures, but just, you know, what do you need to do from a converting standpoint and network as that market evolves? And just quickly on third quarter, and I'll turn it over to Yes, it'll be lower, I think you said, but we're still, you know, we're still talking about triple digits in terms of dollars for EBIT, right? We're not going back to some of the, you know, a few years ago where we had some weaker quarters there. Thanks, and good luck in 3Q.
spk03: Thanks, George. And yes, you're right on Q3. I think as you think about, you know, what our next steps are in metal containers, I mean, look, we've got half of the business that's growing, half of the business that we are investing to support our customers' growth in pet food. So, you know, we've got a very optimized platform and I think a very low-cost platform, certainly on that side of the business. And I think when you think about the balance of the business, the other, call it less than 50%, you know we do have the announced cost reduction initiative that's not just about closing plans that's also about just driving cost out of the business and i think one thing i will absolutely say particularly about our metal containers business is they've been terrific at driving cost out of their business and that's absolutely what we're going to continue to do on that part of the business that's not pet food okay thanks i'll turn it over
spk05: Go to the next two, Anthony Petinari with Citi.
spk10: Good morning. This is actually Brian Bergmeier on for Anthony. Thanks for taking the question. You know, Adam, in the prepared remarks, you sounded maybe quite a bit more optimistic on M&A opportunities than you had previously. I guess, you know, can you remind us where your pro forma leverage is going to be by the end of this year? And, you know, is it accurate to say that heading into 2025, you know, Silgan could have a pretty full pipeline of creative deals.
spk09: Yeah, this is Bob. I'll jump in on that one. I think you read it pretty well. You know, our balance sheet right now is as we come through the pack season and into the end of the year, we should be, you know, just below the high end of our range. And I'll remind you that that range is two and a half to three and a half times on a net debt basis. So comfortably within, you know, what our normal operating range is. You know, right now we're focused on completing the acquisition of Vayner and then the integration. But that does not at all mean that we're slowing down in terms of, you know, paying attention and looking at investment opportunities, particularly in the dispensing space. So I think you got it right that the balance sheet allows us the opportunity to look I think we think the market is to our benefit right now, given our access to capital, given our ability to move swiftly and with certainty. So I think all those things, coupled with a market backdrop that may not be so favorable for some of the other institutions that we might be competing with for potential targets, So I do think that now we're in a pretty good period from a structural perspective, as well as the backdrop of the market. And again, our focus will be largely around continuing to build out the tip of the spear around the dispensing and specialty closure side of the business.
spk03: I think the only thing I would add to that is that the pro forma EBITDA with Vayner, you know, we're talking about over a billion dollars. The capacity to do more is greater today at Silgan than it was, call it, five or 10 years ago.
spk10: Got it. Got it. Thanks for that detail. And maybe just kind of switching to custom containers. Are we looking for more quarter over quarter EBIT growth in 3Q and into 4Q? I guess, could you
spk03: remind us how the the business wins are going to be kind of layering on in the second half of the year and maybe any uh change assumptions for price cost thanks i'll turn it over sure you know look the business has done a nice job we've continued to win new awards the story for this year in custom containers was really about the two large awards uh the first one was commercialized and in the first quarter And we had identified the second one to be commercialized, call it mid-year. So we had it in our business, call it Q3. The team did a great job, worked with the customer, were able to commercialize that early, and we saw the benefits of that in Q2. So being disciplined and thoughtful about how many big pieces of businesses that we take on, those were the two big items this year. We're continuing to win other new business awards all the time. I think as As you look at the sequential quarters, so going from Q2 to Q3, I think it's actually more important to look at the prior year. So I think we'll see nice growth versus the prior year, both from a volume perspective and from a profit perspective. But I think that the seasonality of our custom container business is definitely more weighted to the first half, and you'll see that again in 2024.
spk05: We'll go next to Gabe Hady with Wells Fargo.
spk12: Adam, Bob, Kim, good morning. Adam, I think in your prepared remarks, you talked about bumping up against maybe some capacity constraints in DSC. I know some of it might require some new molds, maybe pieces of equipment, and then maybe some assembly lines if it's for more of the true dispensing components. I'm just curious, is that true? And then, you know, would you have to expand brick and mortar, or is it within the wallet of call it $250 million of base CapEx for legacy silicon?
spk03: Sure, Gabe. I would say the last part of that is the easy part. So that's absolutely considered in our total CapEx. we're not talking about new facilities or anything at this point this really is more to your first point this is it's more about the molding side so assembly and and other parts were just fine this is about getting the right molds into the right machines that we already have in place and frankly it's just the output of customers being surprised i think at the demand levels that they're seeing for some of their products and and that's what we're reacting to so I think, unfortunately, some orders came in late as there was a surprise element for our customers. And we're doing all we can to support, you know, their growth and get those additional products into the market. So much more about the molding side and really specific to kind of tooling at this point.
spk12: Okay. That's it for me. Thank you.
spk05: Thank you. Moving next to Matt Roberts with Raymond James.
spk11: Hey, good morning, everybody. Thank you for the time. On the DSC segment, so the margin came in strong in the quarter with destocking ending. I think that the mix shift would have to move a little bit towards lower margin items later in the year. So could you discuss how you expect volume and mix shift in the category to evolve between 3Q and 4Q? I mean, double-digit growth in dispensing is impressive, but I imagine as a function of Matt, that just has to taper at some point. So trying to see how you're paying for 3Q and 4Q there.
spk03: Yeah, really good question, Matt. And look, you're right. We've got the double-digit growth in dispensing products. So that obviously is going to drive the margin for the segment. But when you think about kind of the food and beverage side of the business, number one, we've got the cost out. So that's an important element. Number two, you've got kind of a year-over-year comp versus last year as well when we had a challenge in kind of the Q2 through Q4 period for one of our food and beverage facilities in the U.S. market. So, you know, we solved that one before the end of last year. You've got the cost outs on the food and beverage side. So I think margins actually should continue to move up as we kind of work our way through the second half of the year in the DSC segment.
spk11: Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. And then maybe along the same lines, but looking a little farther out, so given the growth in that business plus the incremental margins you have coming from Vayner next year, is there an appropriate margin target to shoot for longer term within that segment or any brackets that you kind of internally think about? Thanks again for taking the questions.
spk03: Sure. Yes, we talked about when we announced the Vayner acquisition that we thought Vayner came through and added roughly 100 basis points of margin expansion to the segment. So I think as we think about continuing growth in the dispenser side of the business, that's more like a 25% EBITDA margin rate. So as we continue to grow out dispensers, it will impact the overall margin for the segment.
spk10: Thanks again, Adam.
spk05: Thank you. Over next to Mike Roxland with Truist Securities.
spk02: Yeah, thanks, Adam, Kim, Bob, and Alex for taking my questions, and congrats on the regular quarter. Mike? Just want to follow up on the food and beverage volumes improving. How does your comments on food and bed relate to the metal European closures and how that's going? That was a headwind for you last year. Has demand improved there as well as European inflation has moderated? And you're seeing some more growth from some of the bed can guys in Europe as consumers have come back. So I'm wondering if that's parlayed also into those metal closures.
spk03: Yeah, it actually it has Mike. So we we've seen stability really more from our our food and beverage business and the European market. And just to be very candid, you know that it was a very difficult year last year for the business. So we've seen improvement off of an easy comp if you will, but we've also seen stability. So I think that's the important part. And you know, we're seeing. some nice volume growth year over year, just because we're getting back to a more stable environment in the European market.
spk02: Got it. And then just in terms of metal containers, EBIT for 2025, I know you haven't brought any guidance yet, but I believe the same customer you keep referencing expects to continue bringing down their working capital next year to drive leverage lower. So how should we think about metal containers EBIT next year as well?
spk03: Well, I think just on a larger scale, I mean, nothing's changed about our long term thesis as it relates to metal containers. So as you try to get a little more detail about 2025, we're not even close to a budget cycle yet. So, you know, I wouldn't really want to offer anything from that perspective. We're working very closely with that customer to help them achieve their working capital goals this year. And, you know, our understanding is that it was going to be a one-year program and discreet. But, you know, props are in the ground right now. We don't have a PAC plan yet for next year. So, you know, we'll be happy to talk about that as we get closer to the end of the year.
spk02: Thanks very much, and good luck in the second half.
spk03: Thank you.
spk05: We'll go next to Daniel Rizzo with Jefferies.
spk00: Hi guys thanks for taking the questions just but just just to follow up on that last point that that customer is going to be the stocking or reducing the working capital going into 2025 that is the plan that they were the idea they relate to you guys.
spk03: Well, I think it's their fiscal 25 just for clarity so we're already in fiscal 25 for them right now, so I you know we're talking about a calendar year 24 for Sylvan. Okay.
spk00: That's helpful. And then have you ever, I mean, is there a large margin difference between soup and pet food versus food and beverage in metal containers? Like in terms of product mix?
spk03: No, not really. I think it's pretty consistent across the board. I mean, from a margin rate perspective, I mean, we talk a lot about mix now as pet food continues to grow. And, you know, you think about the smaller can size supporting the The pet food market versus kind of our standard vegetable and maybe even institutional vegetable can sizes there, you know it's just a margin dollars that are delivered to silicon are left just put the margin rate is is very consistent across the business.
spk00: Okay, and then final question you mentioned something in the prepared remarks about. about the you know the strength of sales and dispensing products, I mean a lot about that, but. Dispensing products around the world, I was wondering if you're running into a situation where you're kind of sold out of certain certain products, you may need more capacity is that the case anywhere.
spk03: Yes, it's. i'm going to start with the end of your comment so yeah we are adding capacity in our dispensing business and have been for several years. To support the growth in that business and i'll i'll go all the way back to when we acquired the rest West rock dispensing business we've been. allocating quite a bit of capital to that business to support their growth. And I think you can see that not only in their volume numbers, but in the bottom line of the segment as well. So yes, backing up into your question, there are certain categories where we are very tight on capacity in some cases, as we mentioned that, you know, we've got orders exceeding capacity for certain products, and we are working hard to address that. This is a global business for us. So You know, the first thing we do is we look at our own network for potential solutions from other geographies. And in some cases, we've executed upon that. We've also just, again, tried to add short-term capacity on the molding side to get customers the products that they need to support the markets that they're serving. So it's a really good problem to have, Dan. And, you know, I think we're working very closely with our customers to address those needs. And, you know, most of that is covered under our long-term contracts. These are really good investments for our company, and we'll continue to make them.
spk04: Thank you very much.
spk05: We'll go next to Jeff Zakoskas with J.P. Morgan.
spk12: Thanks very much. Was price-cost favorable in the quarter, and if so, by how much? And what's price-cost been for the first two quarters?
spk03: And, Jeff, are you to a specific segment with the question on price-cost?
spk12: No. No. For the whole company.
spk03: Okay.
spk12: For the consolidated results. But if you want to go through the individual segments, that's great.
spk03: Okay. Well, how about this? I think price-cost, we've talked a lot about the metal container segment with the underabsorption of the fixed cost base there. So that was negative for us in the quarter. You think about the resin-based businesses, both in dispensing and specialty closures and in custom containers, really there wasn't a whole lot of variance on the price-cost line, so not much of an impact. But for the total company, the significance of the metal containers item drove entirely for the business kind of a slight negative in the quarter.
spk12: Maybe if I can ask it differently, why did your cost of goods sold go down faster than your sales change?
spk03: Well, we have raw material on the metal side in particular that is declining year over year. That's getting passed through to our customer. So it might just be the timing of when those costs hit our P&L versus when the product sold. Again, think of a more seasonal side of our business, like the metal container side on the fruit and vegetable packets. Just one example.
spk12: If you exclude the inventory readjustment, how was price cost in the metals business?
spk03: I would say it's relatively neutral. The single largest item on the P&L is this item of underabsorbed fixed costs.
spk12: Okay, great. Thank you very much.
spk05: Thank you. We'll go next to Arun Vishwanathan with RBC Capital Markets.
spk07: Great. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to clarify, maybe I misheard your earlier comments. You know, food BEV, obviously the destocking has ended, but we're kind of seeing some mixed signals in the scanner data. What are you guys seeing, I guess? You know, we have seen some improvement in private label. We've seen some improvement in, you know, some at-home categories, but others are still a little sluggish. Did you say earlier that you're not seeing that improvement yet? And I guess, what's your outlook as you look into the back half of the year? Do you think promotional spending should continue to increase, and that maybe would drive some improvement in food beverage markets? Or are you thinking about underlying demand trends there?
spk03: Yeah, I think our underlying demand has been very resilient for those products, you know, and not just in 2024 and prior periods as well. And the destocking activity was much more related to the activity that our customers level, not necessarily the market. So, you know, for our food and beverage business, I would just say we've seen nice year over year recovery, again, off of the destocking periods of the prior year. But as we then turn to the back half of the year, we're expecting more of that. So, you know, we are expecting volume growth year over year in our food and beverage businesses, plural, for the second half of the year. That's both metal containers and on the closure side for our food and beverage business. And then to your last point.
spk07: And then thanks for that.
spk03: Well, yeah, just think quickly around the promotional activity. We do think that's an important part. we do think the targeted activity has been successful and are looking for more of that with our customers as we head through the remainder of 2024.
spk07: Great, thanks. And, you know, there's been a lot of volatility over the last two years between destocking and, you know, customer actions. So I guess, you know, maybe would 25 be a more normal environment? And when you think about that, maybe we could just get some initial thoughts of how you're thinking about, you know, that business. You know, it looks like, you know, Wainer will definitely improve your overall growth profile with, you know, more contribution from closures. And so, you know, do you think kind of low to mid single digit, and I think that's kind of what you were laying out, top line growth is really possible. And then what kind of leverage would you get on that as you walk down into the EVIT line? Thanks.
spk03: Sure. Well, I, I do think it's a little bit too early to start talking about 25, but I think from a normalized perspective, we can probably help with maybe some of the building blocks as, as far as maybe the earnings power of the business going forward. So I think I'd start with, you know, first off Arun, nothing has changed about the thesis that we have as far as our three segments and, and their growth profiles going forward. So I think that's an important point. On the Vayner call last week, we did point to 10% EPS accretion. And that's once we achieve the full synergies. And I think we said something like 18 months is when we would get the synergies in. So those are the two important points as we go in. I would also say this large fruit and vegetable customer that's impacting 2024, that should normalize. We think that's a discrete item. But we don't have a PAC plan for next year. So, you know, I think on top of Vayner, I would just point you to kind of the longer term thesis that we have on top of the cost savings initiatives that we've implemented that, you know, we think we've got not only clear line of sight, but great confidence in delivery, not only in 24, but in 25 as well. Great. Thanks.
spk05: We'll go next to George Staffos with Bank of America.
spk12: Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking the follow-on. Adam, can you talk at all to whether customers are maybe using perhaps, or let me say it differently, let me start differently, how are customers evaluating performance in metal packaging from what you can see from the suppliers have the KPIs changed in terms of how you're being evaluated now versus, say, two, three years ago? And, you know, relatedly, are you sensing any change? Because, again, you know, you've seen some of the assets change hands in recent years. Has there been any kind of move in that regard because it's become more competitive, recognizing it's always a competitive business? So how are customers evaluating performance here, perhaps differently, perhaps the same? versus a couple years ago, any change in the competitive footing?
spk03: Yeah, it's interesting. I think, you know, on the metal container side, obviously, you know, when you think about Silgan's business, so much of it's under long-term contracts, so call it 90%. You know, we're deep in those relationships. We're with our customers and their production planning meetings, and really none of that's changed.
spk04: Yep.
spk03: You know, we're near site in many cases, we're onsite in many cases. So I just, I think our metrics George really haven't changed a whole lot. So I am trying to think about broadly if the market has changed and I'm not really aware of anything that I would say, um, has impacted how our customers or the market value suppliers at this point. So, you know, I'll just say maybe we were advanced in our relationships and our metrics that because we are onsite and near site. And maybe others are catching up to that now. I don't really know. But I think our relationships are as good, as strong as they've ever been. And I think that also helps answer the second part of your question on the competitive front. Again, really, we're not seeing any change in competitive activity on the Silgan side of the equation. Again, long-term contracts, protecting the vast majority of our business with very, very deep relationships. I think that we're really secured through the pandemic. and just completely enhanced as we've moved out of the pandemic, helps our customers work through some destocking activities, and we're now sort of back to a normal business relationship at this point with order books more, I guess, relatable to the end consumer demand for those products.
spk09: Yeah, George, the only other thing I would add to that is, yes, assets have changed hands, but I think the market capacity is relatively well balanced. And in our particular case, you know, we've talked about some of the cost outs that we're doing as well. So so I think that with the backdrop of the long term contracts keeps the market pretty well organized and stable.
spk12: Yeah, no, good points. I mean, I wasn't suggesting people are adding capacity, but as assets change hands, relative return thresholds can change. and certainly the long term relationships you've had and the way you've gone about with near site and on sites has served you well. I think I know what you're going to say, and certainly it's been a success story over the last few years. But with Vayner now, custom winds up being relatively well, all the businesses do right. But, you know, custom ones, I think 10% of the portfolio I think, from an EBITDA standpoint, and correct me if I'm wrong in that rough number, I think it's from your slides. How do you see the long-term strategic fit of custom now, if at all differently, versus where it was prior to Vayner? And is it just as simple as, hey, listen, it's a great franchise, it's doing well, and nothing changes other than its relative importance? And then my last question, then I'll turn it over. We spent the last year and a half plus probably talking about destocking and the consumer being weak and the like, and promotion is finally starting to have an effect as we would have expected. Do you sense maybe now the scale is tipping the other way where customers are having to restock? How would you answer that? Thanks, guys. Good luck in the quarter.
spk09: Yeah, George, maybe I'll take the first part of that question relative to custom container, and I'll leave the destocking commentary with Adam. Yeah, look, I don't think there's anything that's changed about our view of the, of the custom container business. Right. I mean, first and foremost, right now we're focused on getting the, um, the Vayner deal closed and integrated. So that's where our time and attention is being spent at the moment. But I think if you look at the performance of the business, the custom container business, it's, it's doing pretty well operationally, they're, they're hitting on all cylinders. Um, we've, we've gotten to the commercialization activities that we were talking about. And, and as Adam pointed out, um, in the second case got to it faster, um, than what we were originally anticipating. So the, the business is performing. And so we're happy about that. Uh, I think what we've, what we've said in the past, and it still holds true that as long as we're not putting the business in a competitively disadvantaged position. by constraining capital to it, which we're obviously not by taking on new business awards, then we like the business for what it is. And from that perspective, happy to have it as part of the portfolio.
spk03: And then, George, thinking about kind of destocking and any shifts there, I think we loosely commented in the first quarter that some of the volume gains that we had seen, particularly in custom containers, We thought might have been sort of related to the restocking activity. And that's just where customers cut inventory too far and weren't able to support the market. So we saw a little bit of that in the first quarter. I think there's a little bit of that in Q2. And I think in our dispensing and specialty closure segment, part of the capacity constraint we're seeing is our customers I'll just say challenge of forecasting that demand. So I think they caught, they got caught a little short on their inventory and that's now backing up to us trying to actually manufacture and mold parts in order to support their market. So we'll get through all of that, but sure, there's a little bit of restocking and we'll just continue to watch that very closely as we kind of navigate through the remainder of 24 and cycle against those destocking comps from last year.
spk12: Thanks, Bob. Thanks, Adam. Good luck in the quarter.
spk02: Thanks, George.
spk05: At this time, I'd like to hand the call back to Adam Greenlee for any additional or closing remarks.
spk03: Great. Thank you, Jennifer. And thanks, everyone, for your interest in SILGIN. And we look forward to sharing our third quarter results later in the year.
spk05: This does conclude today's conference. We thank you for your participation.
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