Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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We could get out front of raw materials as they come off at a faster pace than we’re assuming, and a weaker U.S. dollar would help as well. And the inverse would be true for the lower end of the range. I think it’s also fair to say that at this point in the year. We have a wider range of demand outlook than we normally would or a wider range of possible scenarios for volume than we ordinarily would. Our view would be volumes could be anywhere from up a couple of points to down low single digits, and it’s unusual for us to have a forecast that could include a decline in volumes. So for all those reasons, we’ve decided to express some caution here. But what we think with two quarters left and with some strong cost performance that will continue into the second half, we thought it was prudent to maintain the range at this stage.

Operator: We’ll take our next question from John Purtell with Macquarie Asset Management.

John Purtell: Just in terms of price and mix, so that’s been a benefit for you over a sort of long period of time. We saw that continue in this half with a 4% benefit in flexibles and presumably health care, which you called out there, Ron, as sort of a key part of that. The question is sort of how you see that price mix profiling through the second half. I mean would it be fair to say that you’re expecting slightly less price and mix benefit in the second half relative to the first?

Michael Casamento: Yes, John, I can help you with that one. So you’re right. We — the teams have done a good job on price and getting out there ahead of inflation and recovering that. And you saw in the — we commented in the half, we’ve recovered about $160 million in cost inflation during the period. But we also had really good mix benefits, particularly from the strong health care performance, particularly in the half where we saw a double-digit growth, which is above average growth for that part of the business and a bit of rebound versus the prior year. So as we look forward into the second half, there will still be the price/mix benefit there. But inflation is still there. We’ve got to recover that. And on the health care side, you — comparatively, you’re not going to see the same level of growth and, therefore, the mix benefit. So although we’re still expecting that, we would say that it will be lower than what we saw in the first half.

Operator: We’ll take our next question from George Staphos with Bank of America.

George Staphos: My question on — for the call is on cost saves. Ron, you talked about aggressive actions. I forget exactly how you phrased it. But two, to obviously offset some of the headwinds that you’re seeing, can you talk a bit further about what those actions are? Can you size them either in relation to, I don’t know, the volume weakness that you’re seeing or the ability to offset the dilution from Russia? And how can cost saves build into both calendar ’23 and fiscal ’24 to offset that further dilution you’ll have from Russia, at least in the first half of the upcoming new year?

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