Crown Holdings revises Q3 diluted earnings/share expectations from US$1.15-US$1.25 range to US$1.05-US$1.10 range; company also expects US$32M pre-tax restructuring charge, which affects approximately 300 employees in European operations

Elyse Blye

PHILADELPHIA , September 24, 2013 (press release) – Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) today revised its diluted earnings per share (EPS) expectations for the third quarter ending September 30, 2013 to a range of $1.05 to $1.10 before certain items impacting comparability. The Company had previously projected diluted EPS of $1.15 to $1.25 for its third quarter before certain items. The Company also revised its free cash flow expectations for the year and now expects to generate approximately $500 million in free cash flow for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2013 compared to its previous projection of at least $500 million. The revised outlooks primarily reflect lower than expected end-user demand in certain of the Company’s markets, including European food cans and North American beverage cans.

Consistent with its plans to allocate the majority of 2013 free cash flow to share repurchases, the Company to date has purchased more than 6.9 million shares of its common stock for a total of $300 million.

The Company also expects to record a pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $32 million ($29 million after tax or $0.21 per diluted share) in the 2013 third quarter. The charge reflects the Company’s initiative to reduce headcount across its European operations, primarily in the food, aerosol and specialty packaging businesses, and affects approximately 300 employees. When complete, the Company anticipates annual cost reductions of approximately $25 million.

The Company will release its earnings for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 and will hold a conference call to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, October 17, 2013.

Crown Holdings Inc.

Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies around the world. World headquarters are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.