Mondi reports robust full-year performance after “decisive and effective” COVID-19 response
02 Mar 2021 --- Mondi is announcing its full-year results for the year ended 31 December 2020, highlighting “a robust financial performance with excellent cash generation.”
The consumer packaging giant recorded an underlying EBITDA of €1,353 million (US$1,63 million), with a 20.3 percent margin.
Moreover, the company generated €1,485 million (US$1,78 million) cash from operations and a strong balance sheet at 1.3 x net debt to underlying EBITDA.
Mondi attributes the robust financial performance to its “decisive and effective” COVID-19 response and investing “through-the-cycle” with capital investment projects to deliver growth and enhanced cost-competitiveness.
Environmental and e-commerce drivers
Mondi finished the year positively, experiencing strong demand across its packaging businesses, supported by long-term environmental sustainability and e-commerce growth.
PackagingInsights recently crowned “Home Delivery Haven” as its top packaging trend for 2021, singling out Mondi’s BCoolBox.
The company’s results are delivered against its 2020 Growing Responsibly sustainability commitments and recently announced Mondi Action Plan 2030 (MAP2030), focused on circular-driven packaging and paper solutions.
Mondi reported strong long-term e-commerce growth.
Mondi is uniquely positioned as a paper and flexible plastic packaging manufacturer, working around the mantra of “paper where possible, plastic when useful.”
“Sustainable packaging continues to be a long-term priority for our customers and wider society. As a leading producer of both paper and flexible plastic-based packaging, we continue to support our customers’ environmental goals with packaging that is sustainable by design adhering to our principle of paper where possible, plastic when useful,” comments Andrew King, Mondi Group CEO.
“We remain confident in the structural growth drivers in the packaging sectors in which we operate and the strength of our paper position. The Group remains well-placed to deliver sustainably into the future.”
Kraft paper king
Mondi has been making sustainable packaging solutions for over 50 years. The British multinational packaging and paper group is reportedly the world’s biggest kraft paper producer. Kraft paper is a key substitute for plastic bags.
The drive to replace plastic carrier bags with paper-based alternatives and consumer preferences for fiber-based primary packaging is supporting good demand across Mondi’s range of specialty kraft papers, the company indicates.
Mondi operates 100 sites in over 30 countries across Europe, Russia, North America and Africa, employing approximately 26,000 people.
Mondi is reportedly the world’s biggest kraft paper producer.
Environmental action
In 2020, the company was recognized by CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) as one of only ten companies worldwide with a “Triple-A” score for its environmental performance related to climate, forests and water security.
In February, Mondi announced a three-year strategic partnership supporting the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) efforts to save and change lives worldwide.
The collaboration will see Mondi make a US$1 million in-kind and financial contribution to help WFP improve how it delivers nutritious food over a complex humanitarian supply chain, aiming to reduce food waste and mitigate the impact of packaging on the environment.
The company is also committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in line with science-based targets, maintaining zero deforestation in its wood supply, sourcing wood sustainably from healthy and resilient forests and safeguarding biodiversity and water resources.
Mondi is a co-founder of the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) and signatory of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, committed to making 100 percent of its plastic-based packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable and 25 percent from recycled content by 2025, subject to food regulations.
By Joshua Poole
