(Reuters) - British packaging company Mondi (LON:MNDI) said on Thursday it was implementing price hikes across its range of paper grades in the current fiscal year and there was an improvement in its order book.
Packaging companies, which benefited from a shopping boom during the pandemic-led lockdowns, had to grapple with softer demand and weak pricing in the past year as customers de-stocked amid tough market conditions.
Selling prices were lower so far in 2024 than the averages achieved in the second half of the prior year, while input costs remained elevated compared with historical levels but have broadly stabilised since 2023-end, CEO Andrew King said.
"Sales volumes across our kraft paper and paper bag value chain were lower in the year as a result of weaker demand in line with softer economic conditions," the company said in a statement.
The FTSE 100 company posted a 35% drop in underlying core profit at 1.20 billion euros ($1.30 billion) for the year ended Dec. 31.
Annual group revenue fell about 18% to 7.33 billion euros. The company has proposed a full-year dividend of 70 euro cents per share, in line with the year-ago payment.
($1 = 0.9221 euros)