The Vetropack Group’s net sales increased by 9.9% compared to the first half of 2022.

Vetropack reported a positive performance in the first half of 2023.

During the first six months of this year, it increased its net sales from goods and services by 9.9%, or 13.9% after adjusting for currency effects.

This resulted in a consolidated net sales of CHF 477.9 million, compared to CHF 435.0 million in 2022.

Consolidated EBIT rose to CHF 70.1 million compared to CHF 48.3 million the year before.

At 2.27 billion units, sales of packaging glass were below the figure for the first half of 2022 (2.69 billion units), which fell short of Vetropack’s expectations.

It gave several reasons for this, including the unusually high sales of packaging glass it recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022 – which meant that its customers' warehouses were already full.

In the first quarter of the previous year, Vetropack said it also benefited from a catch-up effect resulting from the COVID pandemic.

Whereas this year, the inflation-related change in end consumers' behaviour had a negative impact on its market environment.

Vetropack said it had fewer concerns this year about the development of energy costs, which have been less volatile in 2023 to date than in the prior year.

However, the group also noticed that the recent instability of energy prices prompted some customers to adopt less price-sensitive procurement strategies, making them increasingly reliant on other types of packaging.

Although it assumes that this is a temporary phenomenon, as glass packaging is a more sustainable packaging solution.

Looking forward, Vetropack expects a modest increase in unit sales as compared to the first half.

From the third quarter onwards, the newly created production capacities at its Italian plant will place the group in a better position to meet the demand it continues to face, particularly for white glass.

Full report available here.