Ball posts Q4 earnings

BROOMFIELD — Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL), a Broomfield-based metal-packaging manufacturer with a major aerospace division, reported adjusted earnings of $0.55 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018, down slightly from the $0.60 per share earned during the same period in 2017.

Sales for the final quarter of 2018 were $11.6 billion, up from $11 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Ball grew global beverage can sales volumes more than 2 percent in 2018. Aluminum aerosol volumes were up 5 percent.

The company also announced it plans to hire 600 new employees at its Boulder-based aerospace division in the next year.

“Ball Corp. begins the year well positioned to achieve our 2019 goals of $2 billion in comparable EBITDA and in excess of $1 billion in free cash flow due to continuing strong demand for environmentally favored aluminum packaging and our strong and growing aerospace backlog,” Ball CEO John Hayes said in a prepared statement. “With cash flow growing, leverage at optimal levels and the board’s recent 50 million share repurchase authorization, the company plans to return in excess of $1 billion to shareholders in 2019 and beyond through a combination of share repurchases and dividends.”

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