Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Mark Miles: Yes. With respect to, I guess, the quantity Anthony, certainly, we have more than adequate cash flow to support this dividend and obviously a much larger dividend. We thought it was the right starting point given it’s in line with kind of the broader market S&P. And with respect to future announcements on increases, I’d say stay tuned on that nothing yet to communicate in that regard.

Anthony Pettinari: Okay. That’s helpful. I’ll turn it over.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of George Staphos with Bank of America. Your line is now open.

Unidentified Analyst: Hi, yes. This is actually on for George this morning. Thanks for taking my questions. So just building upon some of the prior questions can you just comment on what your growth trajectory is during the first quarter? And I guess relative to 2023, the company had some challenges in hitting its growth outlook in 2022. So, what should ultimately give us confidence or comfort in 2023 that this pattern won’t repeat?

Tom Salmon: Appreciate the question. As I stated earlier, our continued investment that we’ve made in CapEx alongside our customers, we believe puts us in a better position relative to the market. And given that it’s customer-linked gives us great confidence going forward. That said, we’re not immune to the dynamic economic backdrop that you’ve heard from a lot of folks. And considering that Berry is coming off of a record 2021 and on a two-year stack basis to be plus 2% given that environment, I think the model is proving itself out not to mention the resiliency of a portfolio that’s 70% tied to very steady resilient businesses that people buy regardless of the economic environment that they’re facing. And this business has performed incredibly well in those environments that coupled with our ongoing investment in our low-cost manufacturing base and footprint and ongoing investments around sustainability, can ultimately offset any type of weakness that the market may provide in terms of demand.

But as we said we clearly have a near-term outlook with around softer customer demand based on our end customers with a stronger back half. But we clearly will pull the levers necessary to deliver on the results.

Mark Miles: Yeah. And again, longer term we continue to view the business as a low single-digit-growth business. We continue to pivot to markets that are higher growth like health and wellness personal care, and certainly investments around sustainability we think are going to €“ is going to be a future growth driver for our company. No change in that regard.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. Great. And just early trends here in the first quarter?

Mark Miles: Copper similar to…

Tom Salmon: How we exited 2022. The market continues to be challenging and the team is performing very well as we said in our prepared comments. The commitment to offset fully all in places that we’re exposed to continue to be front and center as we start our fiscal 2023.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. Thanks. And just one quick follow-up. Just relative to that $300 million of revenue from those growth investments over 2023 and 2024, how can we think about the cadence of that kind of layering in here?

Mark Miles: Yeah, I don’t have the exact granular detail in front of me. I don’t think there’s a big hockey stick as I think about those projects that are outlined on those pages. Some of those are coming online as we speak. So I don’t think, if you just modeled it ratably, over the next eight quarters, I don’t think that would be significantly different.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Phil Ng with Jefferies. Your line is now open.

Phil Ng: Hey, guys. Any update on any potential divestitures? Certainly, the credit markets have gotten a little tougher. Has that made it a little more challenging to execute? And on the flip side, did the move that you’ve kind of announced today in terms of returning cash back to shareholders limit your ability to kind of pursue bolt-ons call it in 2023?

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