Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript January 25, 2024

Packaging Corporation of America isn’t one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Thank you for joining Packaging Corporation of America's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Results Conference Call. Your host today will be Mark Kowlzan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PCA. Upon conclusion of his narrative, there will be a question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the floor over to Mr. Kowlzan. Please proceed when you are ready.

Mark Kowlzan: Thank you, Jamie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for participating in Packaging Corporation of America's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings release conference call. Again, I'm Mark Kowlzan, Chairman and CEO of PCA. And with me on the call today is Tom Hassfurther, Executive Vice President, who runs the Packaging business; and Bob Mundy, our Chief Financial Officer. As usual, I will begin the call with an overview of the fourth quarter and full year results, and then I'll be turning the call over to Tom and Bob, who'll provide further details. After they're done, I'll wrap things up, and then we'll be glad to take questions. Yesterday, we reported fourth quarter 2023 net income of $189 million or $2.10 per share.

Excluding special items, fourth quarter 2023 net income was $192 million or $2.13 per share, compared to the fourth quarter of 2022’s net income of $215 million or $2.35 per share. Fourth quarter net sales were $1.94 billion in 2023 and $1.98 billion in 2022. Total company EBITDA for the fourth quarter, excluding special items was $394 million in 2023 and $409 million in 2022. Excluding the special items, we also reported full year 2023 earnings of $784 million or $8.70 per share compared to the 2022 earnings of $1.04 billion or $11.14 per share. Net sales were $7.8 billion in 2023 and $8.5 billion in 2022. Excluding special items, total company EBITDA in 2023 was $1.6 billion compared to the $1.9 billion in 2022. Fourth quarter and full year 2023 net income included special items primarily for certain costs at our Jackson, Alabama mill for the paper-to-containerboard conversion-related activities and the closure and other costs related to corrugated products facilities and design center.

Details of all special items for the year 2023 and 2022 were included in the schedules that accompanied our earnings press release. Excluding the special items, the $0.22 per share decrease in fourth quarter 2023 earnings compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 was driven primarily by lower prices and mix of $1.93 in the Packaging segment, lower prices and mix $0.04, and volume $0.03 in the Paper segment and higher depreciation expense $0.10. These items were partially offset by very good volume in the Packaging segment of $1.07 per share. We also had lower operating and converting costs of $0.51 driven by very good process efficiencies and control over other usages of fiber, chemicals, energy, materials and labor as well as lower energy and wood fiber prices.