The market is a tough critic at times. Amcor released the half year results yesterday and to me they look good although like many other companies and industries, they have been impacted by supply chain issues. 

Maybe the market expected more, but for perspective this is a company with USD13B of annual sales, expecting rapid growth is just not going to happen. The company reported low single digit growth in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

The company remains in line with their strategy of circa 10-15% total shareholder return via EPS growth. Dividends have also played a part at around 4% unfranked. The outlook is for EPS growth in the 7-11% range and adjusted free cash flow of USD1.1-1.2B. 

They are also planning on a 600M share buyback in 2022. With net debt of USD6,043M and shares near all-time high, this is one part that had me sit and think for a few minutes. 

Amcor is also seeking further acquisitions following the success of Bemis several years ago. acquisition.

On the back of evolving environmental concerns, in 2018 Amcor indicated all packaging would be recyclable or reusable by 2025. They are innovators in food, healthcare, and pet food packaging and are continuing to launch new packaging products. These efforts appear to be positive and are assisting them remaining in demand and as an industry leader. 

Ron Delia, Amcor CEO, says the company is going to be investing strongly in growth opportunities over the coming period, targeting high growth segments, major emerging markets, and innovation. India, China, and Brazil are the big 3 of their 27 emerging markets targets.

While shares are currently not far from ATH, this one is on the watch list for the SMSF.