Crown Holdings Comments On Its 2013 Third Quarter Earnings And Outlook For Free Cash Flow

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) today revised its diluted earnings per share (EPS) expectations for the third quarter ending September 30, 2013 to a range of $1.05 to $1.10 before certain items impacting comparability.  The Company had previously projected diluted EPS of $1.15 to $1.25 for its third quarter before certain items.  The Company also revised its free cash flow expectations for the year and now expects to generate approximately $500 million in free cash flow for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2013 compared to its previous projection of at least $500 million. The revised outlooks primarily reflect lower than expected end-user demand in certain of the Company's markets, including European food cans and North American beverage cans.

Consistent with its plans to allocate the majority of 2013 free cash flow to share repurchases, the Company to date has purchased more than 6.9 million shares of its common stock for a total of $300 million.

The Company also expects to record a pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $32 million ($29 million after tax or $0.21 per diluted share) in the 2013 third quarter.  The charge reflects the Company's initiative to reduce headcount across its European operations, primarily in the food, aerosol and specialty packaging businesses, and affects approximately 300 employees.  When complete, the Company anticipates annual cost reductions of approximately $25 million. 

The Company will release its earnings for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 and will hold a conference call to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday, October 17, 2013. 

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are (212) 519-0813 or toll-free (888) 994-8798 and the access password is "packaging."  A replay of the conference call will be available for a one-week period ending at midnight on October 24.  The telephone numbers for the replay are (203) 369-0593 or toll free (866) 403-8762.  A live web cast of the call will be made available to the public on the internet at the Company's web site, www.crowncork.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information, all other information in this press release consists of forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including the Company's ability to generate free cash flow, future demand for the Company's products including in its European food can and North American beverage can businesses, the Company's ability to use free cash flow to repurchase shares of Company stock, to generate expected levels of diluted earnings per share, to successfully implement restructuring projects across its European food, aerosol and specialty packaging businesses and realize savings from these projects that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.  The Company undertakes no duty to update such forward-looking statements.  Important factors that could cause the statements made in this press release or the actual results of operations or financial condition of the Company to differ are discussed under the caption "Forward Looking Statements" in the Company's Form 10-K Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2012 and in subsequent filings made prior to or after the date hereof.  The Company does not intend to review or revise any particular forward-looking statement in light of future events.

Non-GAAP Measures

Free cash flow is not a defined term under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (non-GAAP measure).  In addition, the information presented regarding diluted earnings per share before certain items does not conform to U.S. GAAP and includes non-GAAP measures.  Non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for diluted earnings per share or cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may not be comparable to calculations of similarly titled measures by other companies.

The Company views free cash flow as a principal measure of performance of its operations and for the allocation of resources.  Free cash flow has certain limitations, however, including that it does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures since other non-discretionary expenditures, such as mandatory debt service requirements, are not deducted from the measure.  The amount of mandatory versus discretionary expenditures can vary significantly between periods. The Company believes that diluted earnings per share before certain items can be used to evaluate the Company's operations.  Reconciliations to free cash flow and diluted earnings per share before certain items can be found below.

Reconciliation from expected Diluted Earnings per Share to expected Diluted Earnings per Share before Certain Items

(1) During the third quarter of 2013, the Company expects to record a restructuring charge of approximately $32 million ($29 million, net of tax, or $0.21 per diluted share) in connection with an initiative to reduce headcount across its European operations.

(2) During the third quarter of 2013, the Company expects to record a tax charge of approximately $9 million ($0.06 per diluted share) to reduce the value of its deferred tax assets due to a recently enacted reduction in U.K. corporate income tax rates.

Reconciliation from expected Cash Flow from Operations to expected adjusted Free Cash Flow

Crown Holdings, Inc.
Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies around the world.  World headquarters are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

For more information, contact:
Thomas A. Kelly, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, (215) 698-5341
Thomas T. Fischer, Vice President Investor Relations, (215) 552-3702
Ed Bisno, Bisno Communications, (212) 717-7578

SOURCE Crown Holdings, Inc.