Charlotte-based Sealed Air reports a rise in Q4 earnings

Charlotte-based Sealed Air reported fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday that topped Wall Street expectations, though sales fell short because of a strong U.S. dollar.

Sealed Air, the maker of Bubble Wrap, reported fourth-quarter earnings of $124 million, or 62 cents a share, for the three months that ended Dec. 31. That was up from $66 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, according to a securities filing.

Adjusted for restructuring and other costs, as well as the loss in sales from the European food trays business it sold this fall, fourth-quarter earnings were 76 cents a share. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 50 cents a share.

Sales for the quarter were $1.75 billion, below the $1.77 billion Wall Street estimate.

Currency, the company said, had a $190 million drag on sales for the quarter. A strong dollar makes American-made goods more expensive overseas.

For the full year 2016, the company estimates sales will total $6.8 billion, which assumes a currency drag of about $400 million. Adjusted earnings per share for the year will be in the range of $2.52 to $2.60.

“We will execute in 2016 with the same mindset as in 2015,” Sealed Air President and Chief Executive Officer Jerome Peribere said in a call with investors Wednesday.

Sealed Air divides its business into three segments: food care, product care and Diversey Care. Revenue fell in all three categories in the fourth quarter of 2015 from the same three months in 2014.

Sealed Air has made a number of other deals over the last year that have shaped its business, including the sale of its North American foam trays and absorbent pads business last April, the purchase of a French packaging equipment company called B+ Equipment in August and the acquisition of a water-free conveyor lubrication provider called Dry Lube in December.

A Fortune 500 company previously based in New Jersey, Sealed Air broke ground on its Charlotte headquarters in June in the LakePoint Corporate Center, near Charlotte Douglas International Airport. It currently employs approximately 500 people there. By the time Sealed Air finishes moving into its new corporate offices in 2017, it expects to have a workforce of 1,262, with local hires comprising about half.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 7:58 AM with the headline "Charlotte-based Sealed Air reports a rise in Q4 earnings."