O-I Glass has reported its financial results for the first quarter of the year.
During a conference call on 29 April, O-I CEO Gordon Hardie and CFO John Haudrich discussed the company’s latest results.
O-I reported flat net sales of $1.54 billion, and saw promising results from its Fit to Win programme in America, which aims to cut costs and increase production efficiency, and saw a number of furnace closures and job losses in 2025.
However, there was a notable decline in segment operating profits, which decreased to $142 million from $209 million.
Europe broke even in the first quarter, down roughly $68 million from a year ago, while America posted flat segment profit.
Additionally, segment shipments declined in both America and Europe.
America experienced a 9% decrease and $10 million of disruption-related expenses, driven by extreme weather, civil unrest in Mexico and a natural gas pipeline failure in Peru, partially offset by Fit to Win.
Similarly, Europe showed a 7% decline, with breakeven profit.
The company stated that Europe’s decline was primarily driven by a $76 million net price reduction and higher plant closure costs.
In the conference call, CEO Gordon Hardie summarised: “The year got off to a challenging start.
“While the top line held steady, demand was sluggish early in the quarter before improving through March.
“We also experienced elevated commercial pressures in Europe and several onetime external events that increased our costs.
“As a result, first quarter adjusted earnings of $0.05 per share came in below our original expectations.”
The company emphasised the performance of the Fit to Win programme, which had a net benefit of $35 million.
Europe’s results fell short of O-I’s expectations, but the company explained that it was earlier in the Fit to Win model, and they are expecting improvement in the upcoming quarters.
Other notable challenges faced by O-I includes a decrease in demand in alcoholic end markets, as well as an ongoing weakness in wine, particularly in Southern Europe.
Conversely, the food sector is emerging as O-I’s second largest category behind beer.
Overall, the company remained positive that long-term investment was still beneficial for its customers.
The company expects stability in the second quarter of the year, and low to mid-single-digit volume growth in the second half.
They also stated that core glass demand is now stabilising, with recent trends proving encouraging.
Although O-I adjusted its 2026 outlook to reflect Europe's operating environment and the energy backdrop, the company remains committed to its 2027 Investor Day targets of $1.45 billion EBITDA target.
The Fit to Win programme is still on track to earn at least $275 million in 2026 benefits.
