MeadWestvaco Corp. reported solid earnings Wednesday for the fourth quarter and 2010. Net income from continuing operations in the fourth quarter was $68 million or 40 cents a share, compared with $53 million or 30 cents a share for the same period in 2009. For the entire year, earnings reached $262 million, or $1.52 per share, compared to $240 million, or $1.38 per share in 2009. Sales also grew in 2010 by 5 percent to $5.69 billion.
The Richmond-based company credited growth in its packaging and specialty chemicals businesses as the driver behind improved performance. Combined profits from the packaging businesses were up 54 percent in the fourth quarter and 38 percent for the year, reflecting strong gains in global markets for retail, food and liquid packaging, personal care dispensing solutions, home and garden trigger sprayers and corrugated packaging serving the produce, meat and personal care markets in Brazil.
“We have transformed MWV into a company that is generating significantly higher returns on a consistent basis, and we’ve seen that reflected in our operating performance over the course of 2010,” John A. Luke, Jr., chairman and CEO said in a statement. “Our record 2010 earnings are the direct result of the success we’ve had implementing focused strategies to increase profits in each of our targeted end-markets. “
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