Aptar Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual 2024 Results

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), a global leader in drug and consumer product dosing, dispensing and protection technologies, today reported strong fourth quarter results due to solid operational performance driven by top and bottom line improvements. Results were driven by sales growth in pharma solutions, increased demand for closures technologies and productivity gains across the company. Reported sales increased by 1% and core sales increased by 2% due to a negative currency effect. Aptar reported net income of $101 million for the quarter, a 62% increase from the prior year. In addition, the quarterly results benefited from a lower effective tax rate.

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"Aptar achieved another strong quarter and year, delivering back-to-back years of double-digit earnings per share growth. For the full year, our pharma franchise grew sales 8%, propelled by brisk demand for our proprietary drug delivery systems, which grew 9% in 2024. Our closures segment also finished the year strong with solid performance and good momentum. Net income for full year 2024 grew 32% over the prior year and we ended 2024 solidly in the middle of our long-term adjusted EBITDA margin range, with significant margin expansion in our pharma and closures segments. Our beauty segment was able to improve its margin even with a challenged top line, driven by increased productivity and cost management efforts. In 2024, net cash provided by operations increased 12% along with lower capital expenditures, which generated a free cash flow increase of 40%," said Stephan B. Tanda, Aptar President and CEO.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Reported sales increased 1% and reported net income increased 62% to $101 million
• Core sales increased 2% and adjusted EBITDA increased 9% from the prior year to $195 million
• Reported earnings per share increased 60% to $1.49 and adjusted earnings per share increased 27% to $1.52
• Achieved an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23%, at the high end of the long-term target range

Annual 2024 Highlights

• Reported and core sales grew 3%, with annual sales of $3.6 billion, driven by favorable product mix and volume growth
• Delivered 30% diluted earnings per share growth and achieved 18% adjusted earnings per share growth
• Net income grew 32% to $375 million
• Net cash provided by operations increased 12% and free cash flow increased 40%
• 2024 was our 31st consecutive year of paying an annually increasing dividend

Fourth Quarter Results

For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, reported sales increased 1% to $848 million compared to $838 million in the prior year and core sales increased 2%.

Aptar Pharma's reported sales and core sales increased 4% from the prior year quarter. The segment's solid performance was driven by continued demand for proprietary drug delivery systems used for allergic rhinitis, emergency medicines and central nervous system therapies, as well as royalty revenues, boosting adjusted EBITDA margins to 36%. Sales from nasal decongestants and saline rinses declined in the quarter due to the weaker 2023-2024 cold and flu season driving customers to adjust inventories. The active material science division grew double digits, reflecting higher tooling sales and a more favorable product mix.

Aptar Beauty's reported sales decreased 5% and core sales were down 3% compared to the prior year quarter due to mix and lower tooling sales. Unit volume for the segment grew slightly in the quarter driven by improving sales in North America and Latin America. While the beauty segment saw sales growth in masstige fragrance, personal care and home care, this growth could not offset lower tooling sales, and lower sales from prestige fragrance and skincare technologies.

Aptar Closures' reported sales increased 5% from the prior year quarter and the segment's core sales increased 7%. The increase in core sales was driven by demand across a number of end markets including food and beverage. Closures delivered another solid quarter and the segment's margin improved 260 basis points over the prior year period driven by the benefit of higher sales and continued cost containment efforts.

Aptar reported fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.49, an increase of 60%, compared to $0.93 during the same period a year ago. Fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share, excluding restructuring charges and the unrealized gains or losses on an equity investment, were $1.52, an increase of 27%, compared to $1.20 in the prior year, including comparable exchange rates. The fourth quarter effective tax rate was 13%, due to a tax benefit as part of our ongoing tax planning, compared to the prior year effective tax rate of 23%. Aptar's fourth quarter guide included a higher tax rate in anticipation of a retroactive increase in the French corporate income tax rate that did not materialize in 2024.

Annual Results

For the year ended December 31, 2024, reported sales increased 3% to $3.58 billion compared to $3.49 billion in the prior year. Core sales also increased 3%.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, Aptar's reported earnings per share were $5.53, an increase of 30%, compared to $4.25 reported a year ago. Current year adjusted earnings per share, excluding restructuring charges, acquisition costs, and the unrealized gains or losses on an equity investment, were $5.64 and increased 18% from prior year adjusted earnings per share of $4.79, including comparable exchange rates. The current year had an effective tax rate of 20% compared to the prior year effective tax rate of 24%. Capital expenditures stepped down for the year and were $276 million due to the completion of large capital projects.

Outlook

Regarding Aptar's outlook, Tanda stated, "We anticipate 2025 to be another strong year for Aptar. Having said that, in the first quarter we expect significant negative impacts from foreign currencies and a higher effective tax rate compared to the prior year quarter, as well as softer demand in certain end markets. Looking ahead, we expect pharma to continue to be the main driver of growth with our proprietary drug delivery systems anticipated to lead the way. When adjusting for currency fluctuations and tax impacts in 2025, we anticipate to deliver solid earnings growth and increase shareholder value."

Aptar currently expects earnings per share for the first quarter of 2025, excluding any restructuring expenses, changes in the fair value of equity investments and acquisition costs, to be in the range of $1.11 to $1.19. This guidance is based on an effective tax rate range of 25% to 27%, due in part to an anticipated increase in the French corporate tax rate, with a comparable adjusted prior year effective tax rate of 21%. The earnings per share guidance range is based on spot rates at the end of December for all currencies. Currency impacts will drive a larger headwind in the first quarter than typical because of the U.S. dollar's renewed strength against many currencies. Currently, the impact from foreign currencies in the first quarter is anticipated to be a headwind of approximately 7 cents, compared to the prior year.

Share Repurchase Authorization and Cash Dividend

As previously reported, Aptar's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of $500 million of the Company's common stock, which replaced all previous authorizations. Aptar may repurchase shares through the open market, privately negotiated transactions or other programs, subject to market conditions. The Board also approved the quarterly cash dividend of $0.45 per share. The payment date is February 26, 2025, to stockholders of record as of February 5, 2025. During the fourth quarter, Aptar repurchased 218 thousand shares for approximately $37 million.

Open Conference Call

There will be a conference call held on Friday, February 7, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss the company's fourth quarter and annual results for 2024. The call will last approximately one hour. Interested parties are invited to listen to a live webcast by visiting the Investor Relations website at investors.aptar.com. Replay of the conference call can also be accessed for a limited time on the Investor Relations page of the website.

About Aptar

Aptar is a global leader in drug and consumer product dosing, dispensing and protection technologies. Aptar serves a number of attractive end markets including pharmaceutical, beauty, food, beverage, personal care and home care. Using market expertise, proprietary design, engineering and science to create innovative solutions for many of the world's leading brands, Aptar in turn makes a meaningful difference in the lives, looks, health and homes of millions of patients and consumers around the world. Aptar is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois and has more than 13,000 dedicated employees in 20 countries. For more information, visit www.aptar.com.

Presentation of Non-GAAP Information

This press release refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including current year adjusted earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA, which exclude the impact of restructuring initiatives, acquisition-related costs, certain purchase accounting adjustments related to acquisitions and investments and net unrealized investment gains and losses related to observable market price changes on equity securities. Core sales and adjusted earnings per share also neutralize the impact of foreign currency translation effects when comparing current results to the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before net interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, restructuring initiatives, acquisition-related costs, net unrealized investment gains and losses related to observable market price changes on equity securities and other special items. Adjusted EBITDA margin is adjusted EBITDA divided by reported net sales. Non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures provided by other companies. Aptar's management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to our investors because they allow for a better period over period comparison of operating results by removing the impact of items that, in management's view, do not reflect Aptar's core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures also provide investors with certain information used by Aptar's management when making financial and operational decisions. Free cash flow is calculated as cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures plus proceeds from government grants related to capital expenditures. We use free cash flow to measure cash flow generated by operations that is available for dividends, share repurchases, acquisitions and debt repayment. We believe that it is meaningful to investors in evaluating our financial performance and measuring our ability to generate cash internally to fund our initiatives. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial results but should be read in conjunction with the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of income and other information presented herein. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is included in the accompanying tables. Our outlook is provided on a non-GAAP basis because certain reconciling items are dependent on future events that either cannot be controlled, such as exchange rates and changes in the fair value of equity investments, or reliably predicted because they are not part of the company's routine activities, such as restructuring and acquisition costs.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including certain statements set forth under the "Outlook" section of this press release. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "future," "potential," "continues" and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would" and "could" are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are based on our beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to us. Accordingly, our actual results or other events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment including, but not limited to: geopolitical conflicts worldwide including the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military and the resulting indirect impact on demand from our customers selling their products into these countries, as well as rising input costs and certain supply chain disruptions; cybersecurity threats against our systems and/or service providers that could impact our networks and reporting systems; the availability of raw materials and components (particularly from sole sourced suppliers for some of our Pharma solutions) as well as the financial viability of these suppliers; lower demand and asset utilization due to an economic recession either globally or in key markets we operate within; economic conditions worldwide, including inflationary conditions and potential deflationary conditions in other regions we rely on for growth; competition, including technological advances; significant tariffs and other restrictions on foreign imports imposed by the U.S. and related countermeasures taken by impacted foreign countries; the execution of our fixed cost reduction initiatives, including our optimization initiative; our ability to successfully implement facility expansions and new facility projects; fluctuations in the cost of materials, components, transportation cost as a result of supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, and other input costs; significant fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or our effective tax rate; the impact of tax reform legislation, changes in tax rates and other tax-related events or transactions that could impact our effective tax rate; financial conditions of customers and suppliers; consolidations within our customer or supplier bases; changes in customer and/or consumer spending levels; loss of one or more key accounts; our ability to offset inflationary impacts with cost containment, productivity initiatives and price increases; changes in capital availability or cost, including rising interest rates; volatility of global credit markets; our ability to identify potential new acquisitions and to successfully acquire and integrate such operations, including the successful integration of the businesses we have acquired; our ability to build out acquired businesses and integrate the product/service offerings of the acquired entities into our existing product/service portfolio; direct or indirect consequences of acts of war, terrorism or social unrest; the impact of natural disasters and other weather-related occurrences; fiscal and monetary policies and other regulations; changes, difficulties or failures in complying with government regulation, including FDA or similar foreign governmental authorities; changing regulations or market conditions regarding environmental sustainability; our ability to retain key members of management and manage labor costs; work stoppages due to labor disputes; our ability to protect and defend our intellectual property rights, as well as litigation involving intellectual property rights; the outcome of any legal proceeding that has been or may be instituted against us and others; our ability to meet future cash flow estimates to support our goodwill impairment testing; the demand for existing and new products; the success of our customers' products, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry; our ability to manage worldwide customer launches of complex technical products, particularly in developing markets; difficulties in product development and uncertainties related to the timing or outcome of product development; significant product liability claims; and other risks associated with our operations. For additional information on these and other risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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