Although the €2416 million revenue figure reported in Verallia’s 2018 annual results is down 2.3% year-on-year, at constant exchange rates and excluding IFRS15 impact, a solid 5.7% revenue growth was achieved. This growth was driven by volume/mix improvements, supported by sales price increases necessary to mitigate rising energy costs and other inflationary impacts. In Europe, revenue fell by 0.3% but increased by 3.8% year-on-year. Growth was driven by volume/mix improvement and higher selling prices in all countries. In South America, revenue fell by 17.1% due to the negative foreign exchange rate variations essentially coming from Argentina. At constant exchange rates and excluding IFRS15, growth was recorded at 19.1%, led by a good level of activity, notably in Brazil, as well as higher sales prices.

Adjusted EBITDA, at €544 million, was up significantly by 7.8% (14.4% at constant exchange rates), driven by a combination of robust revenue growth and continuous reduction of the cost base, despite rising energy costs.

For 2019, Verallia expects further top line growth and margin expansion, in spite of the challenges that the glass packaging industry may face due to rising energy and raw material costs and potential macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties, in particular in South America.