Avery Dennison Reports Sales Growth

Avery Dennison Corp. saw net income of $120 million in the second fiscal quarter, the Glendale labels and adhesive materials manufacturer disclosed Tuesday in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company reported adjusted net income of $1.31 a share for the period ended July 1, beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations by 10 cents. During the second quarter of last year, the company’s net income was $80 million, or around 88 cents a share. Avery Dennison generated $1.63 billion in revenue during the quarter, topping Wall Street projections by $20 million. Net sales on an organic basis grew 3 percent, with the strongest gains in the company’s retail branding and information solutions sector. Sales of that division’s products, which include radio frequency identification tags and apparel labels, grew about 6 percent. Avery Dennison’s largest sector, labels and graphic materials, reported sales growth of 2.3 percent for the second quarter. Sales in its industrial and health care materials segment during the same period fell about 0.1 percent, a decline Chief Executive Mitch Butier attributed to anticipated slow sales of its health products. Improved operating margins in the label and graphic materials and retail branding and solutions divisions, along with more favorable tax rates, prompted the company to raise its annual guidance for adjusted earnings-per-share to between $4.75 and $4.90 a share. “We continue to remain confident that the consistent execution of our strategies will enable us to meet our long-term goals,” Butier said in a statement. The company released its quarterly results before the market opened Tuesday. Avery Dennison stock (AVY) fell $2.69, or around 2.9 percent, on Tuesday to close at $91.27 on the New York Stock Exchange.