Rock-Tenn 2Q Profit Up 13% As Shipments, Prices Rise

  DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Rock-Tenn Co.'s (RKT) fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 13% as the packaging-products company booked higher shipments and selling prices.

Shares were down 1.7% at $70.33 after hours as the bottom line missed analyst estimates. Through the close, the stock has risen 33% so far this year.

Rock-Tenn's bottom line has previously struggled in year-over-year comparisons because of the benefits of alternative fuel tax credits in the year-ago periods. The company uses biomass from paper milling to produce liquid fuel. But the company also has been reporting rising demand and price increases.

In January, Rock-Tenn, which makes packaging for food and consumer products, agreed to purchase Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (SSCC) for $3.5 billion in cash and stock. The deal is expected to close in the current quarter, which would place it within one year of Smurfit's emergence from bankruptcy court. The deal still needs to be approved by shareholders, and three hedge funds--which together own 9% of Smurfit--say they will vote against it because Rock-Tenn's offer undervalues the maker of containerboard and corrugated boxes.

For the quarter ended March 31, Rock-Tenn posted a profit of $37 million, or 92 cents a share, from $32.8 million, or 83 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding such items as alternative fuel tax credits and restructuring costs, earnings rose to $1.04 a share from 70 cents. Revenue increased 8.3% to $792.9 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted earnings of $1.27 a share on revenue of $788 million.

Gross margin fell to 21% from 22%.

Total tons shipped increased by 18,531 tons, while the average selling price for all paperboard and containerboard grades climbed $59 a ton.

Revenue in the largest segment, consumer packaging, rose 6.2% on higher paperboard selling prices. Sales climbed in the company's three smaller businesses as well.

Separately, Smurfit-Stone reported swinging to a first-quarter profit.

Earnings came in at $54 million, or 54 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $89 million, or 35 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, earnings were 43 cents a share, versus a year-earlier loss of 23 cents. Net sales climbed 8.2% to $1.58 billion. Wall Street expected 46 cents in earnings per share on $1.68 billion in revenue.

-By Joan E. Solsman and Lauren Pollock, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2356; [e-mail]