Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Tom Salmon: Yes. I think, frankly, it’s a pretty fair characterization that, you know the more we can build up the stable non-discretionary piece of our portfolio, falls in-line with our strategy. And again, we’re not going to be specific on which businesses are going to be divested by and when, but I think the premise that you laid out is very accurate. It makes very good sense for us. And again, it just €“ it further helps build our value add to our customers as we do that.

Michael Roxland: Got it. And just one quickly on HHS, the volume weakness there. I think last quarter, you mentioned that the volume weakness was due to destocking related to COVID benefits, which at that point was fully cycled through. What really occurred this quarter where you saw destocking? And was it more of just, kind of the consumers dialing back their purchases? Or was there some other things other factors driving the volume makes in HHS?

Tom Salmon: Areas like filtration, areas like house wrap, the dryer sheet space as well was modestly destocked in the period, but we don’t expect that to be a long-term phenomenon. As I said, these are great franchises inside our HHS portfolio, we expect those to pivot as we see a general improvement in the economy.

Michael Roxland: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. And that will come from the line of Gabe Hajde with Wells Fargo. Your line is open.

Gabe Hajde: Tom, Mark, Dustin good morning. And I echo everyone else’s congrats to you, Tom.

Tom Salmon: Thank you.

Gabe Hajde: I hate to put you on the spot here, Tom, but kind of being obviously in covalence and as part of the organization through the IPO process and just the company’s maturation, as the company looks out to search for the next person in charge, where would you expect some of the focus to be within the organization? I mean you talked about, obviously, not looking for scale, being more focused on maybe some bolt-on M&A, something that comes to mind that maybe wasn’t a focus or priority for the organization in the past was €“ I mean I know you guys have done things in the plants to be more efficient, but footprint consolidation and things like that. Maybe someone more want say, operational background. But just any color you can give us on, sort of what that might look like, and perhaps the answer is we’re not going to tell you.

Tom Salmon: Well, no, I appreciate the question. Thanks for the kind words. Remember, Berry has a very structured and a long-term planning succession process that we adhere to. We’re incredibly fortunate to have fantastic internal candidates to consider for my replacement, which again is until the end of the year. So, you guys are me for a while. But we also have contracted with Spencer Stuart to also take a look externally as well to make certain that we’re making the best, most informed decision. And as we have more information that we can share with you along the way, we’ll do so, if appropriate. But that’s really all I can say at this stage. The bottom line is, the company is in an amazing spot right now. When you stop to think about the changes that we’ve made, the catalysts that we have today, it’s an exciting time.

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