WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Sonoco (SON) said that it raised its fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 base earnings per share guidance, due to the receipt of business interruption insurance proceeds in the fourth quarter associated with the impact of flooding on operations from Hurricane Florence in September.
Sonoco expects fourth quarter and full-year 2018 GAAP earnings to be $0.75 to $0.85 and $3.09 to $3.19 per share, respectively. The full-year range includes amounts previously disclosed by the Company of approximately $0.19 per diluted share, after-tax, related largely to restructuring and asset impairment charges, acquisition costs and the effect of income tax rate changes on deferred tax items. These GAAP guidance ranges also reflect the anticipated fourth quarter impact of estimated after-tax restructuring charges and property insurance recovery related to Hurricane Florence.
Fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 base earnings guidance is being raised to $0.79 to $0.85 and $3.32 to $3.38 per share, respectively. The company previously provided guidance of $0.75 to $0.81 and $3.28 to $3.34 per diluted share for these respective periods.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.78 per share for the fourth-quarter, and $3.32 per share for fiscal year 2018. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Sonoco estimates 2019 base earnings per share to be in the range of $3.47 to $3.57, with a projected mid-point target of $3.52 per share. This estimate excludes the non-service components of net pension expense which are expected to total approximately $11 million and does not reflect the pending adoption of the new lease accounting standard which becomes effective January 1, 2019. In 2018, the non-service portion of pension expense is not expected to be significant. Analysts expect annual earnings of $3.51 per share.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX