..A leading supplier of recycled packaging in Europe

With a turnover in 2011/12 of £2.0 billion and employing more than 20,000 people, DS Smith Plc is an international supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods.

On 30 June 2012 DS Smith acquired SCA Packaging. On a combined basis, the group is now the second largest manufacturer of corrugated products in Europe. We are also a leading worldwide supplier of bag-in-box packaging and a leading European supplier of plastic returnable transit packaging. The combined Group now has revenues of approximately £4 billion (based on a combination of historically reported figures and a 12 month contribution from both businesses).

DS Smith is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Maidenhead.

http://www.dssmith.com/

2 Feb Canaccord... 370.00 Buy

17 Feb Jefferies... 360.00 Buy (upgrade)

Proposed acquisition of Duropack & trading update
RNS
RNS Number : 5333F
Smith (DS) PLC
23 February 2015



23 February 2015



DS Smith Plc

Proposed acquisition of Duropack and trading update



Proposed acquisition of Duropack

DS Smith Plc ("DS Smith"), the leading provider of recycled corrugated packaging in Europe, is pleased to announce the proposed acquisition of the Duropack business ("the acquisition") for approximately €300m (c.£220m). Duropack, a recycled corrugated board packaging business with market-leading positions across South Eastern Europe, is being acquired from CP Group 2 BV, a One Equity Partners subsidiary.

The acquisition is highly complementary to DS Smith's geographic footprint and transforms our position in higher-growth South Eastern European geographies, further strengthening our pan-European capabilities to our existing customer base in addition to providing access to new customers.

Duropack has number one or two market positions in many of the geographies in which it operates and, combined with DS Smith's existing operations in Hungary, Slovakia and Austria, will have a leading position across South Eastern Europe.

The business is well invested with high quality assets and operates a "short paper, long fibre" model similar to that of DS Smith.

In 2014 the business delivered EBITDA of €41 million and EBIT of €22 million on turnover of €273 million. Cost synergies of €12 million, are expected to be realised within three years of ownership. The additional investment required to integrate the acquisition is c.€13 million, incurred over the first two years. This will be funded by cash savings, driven by working capital efficiencies and tight cash management.

The total consideration, including the assumption of debt, is expected to be circa €300 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments, representing a post synergy multiple of 5.7 times EBITDA.

The acquisition is being financed from existing debt facilities. It will be immediately accretive to earnings per share and generate a return above our cost of capital during the second year of ownership.

The acquisition is subject to competition clearance, which we expect in calendar Q2, with completion shortly thereafter.

Trading update

In the three month period to 31 January 2015, the business has continued to perform in line with our plans. Volumes have been ahead of the run-rate achieved in the first half of the year and remained positive in all regions, with Central Europe and Italy particularly strong. We are delighted by the initial customer reaction to our recent acquisition of Andopack and performance there has been in line with our expectations.



On 30 January 2015, we completed the disposal of our testliner mill in Nantes, France, which had capacity of c. 60 thousand tonnes. This transaction is in line with our strategy to exit paper manufacturing which does not sufficiently complement our Packaging business. There will be an exceptional charge of £9 million, of which £7 million is non-cash.



Our outlook remains positive as the business continues to perform in line with our medium term financial targets, despite economic headwinds in many of our markets, and the Board views the future with confidence.



Miles Roberts, Chief Executive of DS Smith said:

"Duropack is an excellent business and a highly complementary fit. It is a further important step in our strategy to leverage our scale and strengthen our geographic footprint. Duropack has high quality assets with market leading positions. We look forward to it contributing to the overall growth of DS Smith in attractive markets where we were previously under-represented.



Since our half-year, we have continued to make good progress with our customers, benefitting from our differentiated commercial offering and the ongoing roll out of our design centres. Our volume performance has been strong, as the rapidly changing retail environment and consumer buying patterns make well-designed recycled packaging increasingly relevant."

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
23 Feb Berenberg 340.00 Hold
23 Feb JP Morgan... 380.00 Overweight

24 Feb Investec 410.00 Buy
24 Feb Jefferies... 410.00 Buy

DS Smith PLC (SMDS:LSE) set a new 52-week high during Wednesday's trading session when it reached 369.44. Over this period, the share price is up 7.02%.

Trading Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 2750M
Smith (DS) PLC
06 May 2015



6 May 2015



DS Smith Plc - 30 April 2015 Year end trading update



CONTINUED GOOD GROWTH



DS Smith Plc, the leading supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods, today announces a trading update for the year to 30 April 2015.



Trading update

Group performance in the year has been in line with our expectations, with strong underlying growth more than offsetting the continued strengthening of sterling on translated results. The market and business trends from our trading update of 23 February 2015 have remained consistent with volume growth in H2 ahead of our first half and the prior year. Growth has been across all regions, as the roll-out of our design centres and proposition continues to gain good customer traction.



Return on sales and return on capital continue to improve due to further business integration, increasing our value-added products and services to customers, and operational efficiencies, combined with tight working capital management.



Our outlook remains positive as the business performs in line with our medium term financial targets, despite economic headwinds in many of our markets, and the Board continues to view the future with confidence.



Duropack update

Following the announcement of the proposed acquisition of Duropack, on 23 February 2015, the necessary competition filings have been made and it is expected that completion will take place in Q1 of our financial year 2015/16. Plans are in place to integrate this business immediately from completion and we look forward to building on the excellent market positions that Duropack already has in its regions.



Miles Roberts, Group Chief Executive, said:

"We are pleased with the performance of the business in the year, in particular the continued market share and volume growth. We continue to actively manage our business portfolio and the progress we have made with customers during the year, together with the opportunities we see for growth in

Shares - DS Smith is expected to be strongly cash generative over the net two or three years and a significant proportion of this will be spent on capex and acquisitions, which should yield good returns and create value for shareholders.

21 May Berenberg 350.00 Hold

Proposed acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 1841R
Smith (DS) PLC
25 June 2015

25 June 2015



DS Smith Plc

Proposed acquisition of Grupo Lantero's corrugated business



DS Smith Plc ("DS Smith"), the leading provider of recycled corrugated packaging in Europe, is pleased to announce today that we have reached an agreement to acquire the corrugated activities of Grupo Lantero, including several operations in which DS Smith currently has a minority holding. The business is a well-invested Iberian corrugated producer with a strong focus in the FMCG sector, operating seven sites across Spain. This acquisition significantly strengthens our operations in Spain, an important and growing market for corrugated packaging, taking our market share to approximately 10%. It also builds on our recent acquisition of Andopack in calendar Q4 2014, where we have seen a very positive customer reaction to our product and service offering. The acquisition is subject to competition clearance, which we expect during calendar Q3 2015 with completion shortly thereafter.



The total consideration, including the assumption of debt, is expected to be circa €190m, subject to closing adjustments, representing a post synergy multiple of between 5 and 6x EBITDA. The transaction is being financed from existing cash resources and is expected to deliver a return on invested capital above our cost of capital in the second year of ownership.



Miles Roberts, Chief Executive of DS Smith said:

"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of the corrugated activities of Grupo Lantero. It is a high quality business that we have known and partnered with for a number of years and significantly increases our offering to Pan-European customers in this large and growing market. It is a further important step in our strategy to leverage our scale and strengthen our geographic footprint and we look forward to working with Grupo Lantero stakeholders and contributing to the overall growth of DS Smith."



Enric Holzbacher, Chief Executive of Grupo Lantero added:

"We are very pleased to hand over our corrugated packaging business to our partner DS Smith. We are convinced that DS Smith has a strong alignment with our FMCG sector and will further develop our well established customer relationships. Grupo Lantero has decided to strategically focus its activities on its multinational rigid and flexible plastic divisions: Coexpan and Emsur."

Final results

Highlights

· Strong growth in profits, returns and dividends, despite FX headwinds

· Organic corrugated box volume growth of +3.1%

o Acceleration in H2

o Market share gains

· Strengthened the quality of the business portfolio and continued value creation from acquisitions

o Four acquisitions announced in the year, including Andopack in Spain and Duropack in south eastern Europe

o Announcing today the proposed acquisition of Grupo Lantero's corrugated business for €190 million, substantially expanding our position in Iberia

· Continued delivery against all our medium-term targets

o Significant improvement in return on sales and ROACE

o Strong cashflow and working capital performance

o Net debt reduced to £651 million, 1.49x EBITDA

25 Jun Investec 430.00 Buy
25 Jun JP Morgan... 420.00 Overweight

Questor-share-tip-Profits-jump-20pc-higher-at-DS-Smith.

26 Jun Barclays... 360.00 Overweight
26 Jun Jefferies... 435.00 Buy
25 Jun Investec 430.00 Buy
25 Jun JP Morgan... 420.00 Overweight

Lantero's completion announcement
RNS
RNS Number : 7854U
Smith (DS) PLC
03 August 2015



3 August 2015

DS Smith Plc

Completion of acquisition of Grupo Lantero's corrugated business



DS Smith Plc ("DS Smith"), the leading provider of recycled corrugated packaging in Europe, is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of the corrugated activities of Grupo Lantero ("the acquisition") on Friday 31 July, for approximately €190m (c.£135m), following receipt of competition authority clearance.

The business is a well-invested Iberian corrugated producer with a strong focus in the FMCG sector, operating seven sites across Spain. This acquisition significantly strengthens our operations in Spain, an important and growing market for corrugated packaging, taking our market share to approximately 10%. It also builds on our recent acquisition of Andopack in calendar Q4 2014, where we have seen a very positive customer reaction to our product and service offering.



Miles Roberts, Chief Executive of DS Smith said:

"We are delighted to announce the completion of the acquisition of the corrugated activities of Grupo Lantero. It is a high quality business that we have known and partnered with for a number of years and significantly increases our offering to Pan-European customers in this large and growing market. It is a further important step in our strategy to leverage our scale and strengthen our geographic footprint and we look forward to working with Grupo Lantero stakeholders and contributing to the overall growth of DS Smith."



Enric Holzbacher, Chief Executive of Grupo Lantero added:

"We are very pleased to complete the handover of our corrugated packaging business to our partner DS Smith. We are convinced that DS Smith has a strong alignment within the FMCG sector and will further develop our well established customer relationships. Grupo Lantero has decided to strategically focus its activities on its multinational rigid and flexible plastic divisions: Coexpan and Emsur."

Shares - Davy analyst Barry Nixon says positive containerboard and corrugated pricing momentum should result in further upgrades as the year progresses.

AGM Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 3454Y
Smith (DS) PLC
08 September 2015

8 September 2015

DS Smith Plc - AGM trading statement

DS Smith Plc, the leading supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods, today issues a trading update in respect of the period since 1 May 2015. DS Smith will hold its Annual General Meeting at 12 noon today.



Trading update

The business has made good progress since the start of the year and performance has been in line with our expectations. Volume growth remains good and reflects the continued customer support for our unique products and service proposition on a pan-European basis.



Our return on sales and return on average capital employed have both shown further improvement versus the comparable prior year period, reflecting the ongoing benefits from our scale which gives us the opportunity to gain share and lead the market in quality and innovation while remaining competitive on price.



Strengthening our business

We continue to actively manage our asset portfolio to enhance the quality of our business and our geographic footprint. On 31 May 2015, we completed the acquisition of Duropack, a recycled corrugated packaging business with market-leading positions across south eastern Europe, for €305 million. We are very pleased with the reaction from employees and from customers, with a limited impact on volumes from customer overlap. The integration work to date has progressed well and we now expect cost synergies of €15 million per annum and cash synergies of €18 million to be delivered within three years of ownership, compared to the original estimates of €12 million and €13 million respectively.



On 31 July 2015 we completed the acquisition of the corrugated activities of Grupo Lantero for approximately €190 million. The business is a well-invested Iberian corrugated producer with a strong focus in the FMCG sector and the acquisition significantly strengthens our operations in Spain, an important and growing market for corrugated packaging, increasing our market share to approximately 10%. Integration is progressing well and we are pleased with the initial response.



On 18 May 2015, the Group completed the sale of StePac, a specialist modified atmosphere packaging business based in Israel, for $31 million.



On 26 August 2015, we announced to employees the proposed closure of Wansbrough Mill and the commencement of employee representative consultation.



Outlook

Our outlook remains positive as volumes and financial returns continue to grow, despite ongoing challenging market conditions. The Board expects continued performance in line with our medium term financial targets and views the remainder of the year with confidence.

Miles Roberts, Group Chief Executive, said:

"We are pleased with our start to the year as we continue to grow organically and actively manage our business portfolio. Packaging has ever increasing relevance in a dynamic retail and consumer environment and our progress with customers is evidenced by continued volume growth, together with increased margins and returns, from our compelling offering and enhanced geographic footprint. We have a clear vision of further growing DS Smith both in geographic scale and quality of service and our most recent acquisitions, together with the customer and market opportunities for growth, give us confidence for the future."

8 Sep Investec 450.00 Buy
8 Sep JP Morgan... 440.00 Overweight

16 Sep Goldman Sachs 430.00 Neutral

01 Oct 2015 Smith (DS) PLC (7.7 P) Ex dividend

DS Smith downgraded by Jefferies
StockMarketWire.com
Jefferies has downgraded its recommendation on Europe's second largest corrugated packaging producer DS Smith (LON:SMDS) to hold from buy following a recent period of share price outperformance which has seen the stock close in on its target price.

The shares are up 11 per cent over the past 6 months and are up 19 per cent since the beginning of the year.

The broker also highlighted 4 key issues faced by the business, which include the volume and price outlook, the M&A pipeline, foreign exchange risks and innovation concerns.

Analysts have left their price target unchanged at 435 pence a share, implying around 10 per cent potential upside.



At 3:24pm: (LON:SMDS) Smith DS PLC share price was -12.85p at 370.15p