HARTSVILLE, S.C., Oct. 22, 2025 - Sonoco Products Company (“Sonoco” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SON), a global leader in high-value sustainable packaging, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 28, 2025.
Summary:
- Entered into an agreement on September 7, 2025, to sell Sonoco’s ThermoSafe business unit, which is one of the leading providers of temperature-assured packaging, to Arsenal Capital Partners for a total purchase price of up to $725 million, with net proceeds expected to be used to repay existing debt
- Grew third quarter net sales to $2.1 billion, up 57.3% from the prior-year quarter, primarily from acquisitions
- Reported third quarter GAAP net income attributable to Sonoco of $122.9 million, up from $50.9 million in the same period in 2024, and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) attributable to Sonoco of $1.23
- Improved quarterly adjusted net income attributable to Sonoco by 29.3% year over year to $191.2 million, and reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.92
- Achieved third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $386 million, up 37.3% from the prior-year quarter
- Generated $292 million and $277 million of operating cash flow in the third quarter and year-to-date, respectively
- Adjusted full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to between $5.65 and $5.75 from previous guidance of approximately $6.00. Full-year adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $1.30 billion and $1.35 billion, substantially in line with previous guidance of $1.30 billion and $1.40 billion. Cash flows from operating activities are expected to be between $700 million to $750 million from previous guidance of approximately $800 million.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team’s strong operating performance in the third quarter as we achieved record top-line and bottom-line performance along with margin expansion despite challenging market conditions and higher than expected interest costs, said Howard Coker, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our Consumer Packaging segment sales and operating profit each grew 117% and adjusted EBITDA increased by 112%. Most of the improvement came from the addition of Metal Packaging EMEA and improved results from our Metal Packaging U.S. business. Our Industrial Paper Packaging segment improved operating profit by 28%, adjusted EBITDA by 21%, operating profit margin by approximately 336 basis points and adjusted EBITDA margin by approximately 359 basis points driven by year-over-year improvement in price/cost and productivity.”
“In addition, we believe the recently announced sale of our ThermoSafe unit will substantially complete Sonoco’s transformation from a large portfolio of diversified businesses into a simplified structure with two core global business segments — Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging. Proceeds from the sale, which is expected to close before year-end, are projected to further reduce Sonoco’s net leverage ratio.”
Paul Joachimczyk, Sonoco’s Chief Financial Officer, added, “We generated $292 million in operating cash flow in the quarter which was up 80% over the prior year period due to solid improvement in working capital. We expect further strong cash flow generation in the fourth quarter as the seasonal build of working capital reverses.”
