Packaging Corp of America (PKG) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Packaging Corp of America (NYSE:PKG) Q1 2023 Earnings Conference Call April 25, 2023 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Mark Kowlzan - Chairman of the Board & CEO

Thomas Hassfurther - EVP, Corrugated Products

Robert Mundy - EVP & CFO

Conference Call Participants

George Staphos - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Mark Weintraub - Seaport Research Partners

Anthony Pettinari - Citigroup

Operator

Thank you for joining Packaging Corporation of America's First Quarter 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. Please also note today's event is being recorded.

At this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Mr. Kowlzan. Please proceed when you are ready.

Mark Kowlzan

Thank you, Jamie. Good morning, and thank you for participating in Packaging Corporation of America's First Quarter 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'll begin the call with an overview of our first quarter results. And then I'll turn the call over to Tom and Bob will provide further details. And then I'll wrap things up, and we'd be glad to take questions.

Yesterday, we reported first quarter net income of $190 million or $2.11 per share. Excluding special items, first quarter 2023, net income was $198 million or $2.20 per share compared to the first quarter of 2022 net income of $256 million or $2.72 per share. First quarter net sales were $2 billion in 2023 and $2.1 billion in 2022. The Total company EBITDA for the first quarter, excluding special items, was $405 million in 2023 and $467 million in 2022.

The First quarter net income included special items expenses of $0.09 per share, primarily; for the closure costs related to corrugated products facilities and design centers. Details of special items for both the first quarter of 2023 and 2022 were included in the schedules that accompanied our earnings press release.

Excluding the special items, the $0.52 per share decrease in first quarter 2023 earnings compared to the first quarter of 2022 was driven primarily by lower volumes in our Packaging segment for $0.95, and Paper segment $0.04.