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.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Cares: April 2024

In Colorado, 1 in 3 women, 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 transgender individuals will experience an attempted or completed sexual assault in their lifetime. During April, we recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month with the hopes of increasing conversations about this very important issue.

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.”