Graphic Packaging Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
October 31, 2023

There are 12 speakers on the call.

Operator

Welcome to the Graphics Packaging Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute during the presentation portion of the call with an opportunity for question and answer at the end. I would now like to turn the conference call over to our host, Melanie Skijes, Vice Principal of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning, and welcome Graphic Packaging Holdings Company's 3rd Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Joining us on our call today are Mike Doss, the company's President and CEO and Steve Scherger, Executive Vice President and CFO. To help you follow along with today's call, we will be referencing our Q3 earnings presentation, which can be accessed through the webcast and also on the Investors section of our website at www.graphic

Operator

pkg.com.

Speaker 1

Before I turn the call over to Mike, let me remind you that today's press release,

Operator

The Q3

Speaker 1

earnings presentation and the statements made by our executives include forward looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our for the presentation and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks identified in the release and the presentation as well as our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Melanie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. Let's begin with the highlights on Slide 4. I'm very proud of our team's performance during the Q3. Amid a very dynamic environment, we continue to make progress on our goals, Deliver adjusted EBITDA growth and margin expansion, invest for the future and fulfill our purpose to package life's everyday moments for a renewable future.

Speaker 2

As customers have pointed out in recent months, the consumer environment remains dynamic. An uncertain and evolving macro climate has resulted in a relatively more cautious consumer in the near term. At the same time, and as we have discussed last quarter, Retailers are operating with more normalized inventory levels versus a year ago as supply chain challenges have largely subsided. The combination of these factors has had a modest impact on our packaging volume. And listening to a broad mix of our global customers and given the confidence We have in our innovation pipeline.

Speaker 2

We are anticipating a return to our targeted 100 to 200 basis points of net organic sales growth in 2024. Responding to external factors, our team leveraged the scale and flexibility inherent in our system and reduced Paperboard production by 150,000 tons during the quarter. Through our disciplined commercial approach Inactive management of supply to meet demand, we met our commitments to customers and stakeholders while adopting to current volume changes. Together, our team, our capabilities and our strong operational execution provided the path to targeted EBITDA margin levels in the quarter. Our performance demonstrates the resilience of our business and is a testament to our differentiated approach to servicing and growing consumer packaging markets.

Speaker 2

We are delivering value to customers with the packaging solutions we provide and optimizing our system to position Graphic Packaging for long term growth. The key element of our strategy is supporting growth through advancing innovation capabilities and making strategic investments. We made considerable progress on this front in the Q3, including new innovations that are driving category and market expansion, Continued progress on our multiyear CRB system transformation, both of which I will expand on in a moment. And lastly, the completion of the Bell Incorporated acquisition. The acquisition of Bell is a good Example of how we are investing in our packaging network by adding capabilities and expanding the customers and markets we serve.

Speaker 2

Acquisition integration is well underway and we are excited about the new opportunities Bell provides. As we look ahead, We are positioned to benefit from the long term strength of demand for sustainable fiber based packaging. We are focused on further distinguishing graphic packaging as the leader We have updated our guidance and continue to expect 2023 adjusted EBITDA of $1,900,000,000 at the midpoint of our guidance range. In addition, we are tracking to meet or exceed Our enhanced vision 2025 financial goals. We remain confident in our ability to achieve annual organic sales growth targets in the years ahead.

Speaker 2

One of the many reasons we remain confident in our organic growth outlook is the continued advancements we are driving through innovation with our customers. Slide 5 provides another example of our innovation engine at work and the continued progress using fiber to replace packaging previously created with nonrenewable resources like plastic and foam. I'm sure many of you recognize the iconic Nissen Cup Noodles, A leading brand in the ramen comfort food category. Historically, the noodle cups have been made of foam. Through our innovation capabilities And expertise in both food service and retail packaging, the fiber based solution we developed serves as a more sustainable packaging alternative to foam and is effective in shelf stable retail environment.

Speaker 2

Notably, our retail cup solution for Nissen provides added convenience for the consumer as it is safe for microwave use, eliminating an extra step required in meal preparation when using foam. We are excited to share with you today a new partnership we have with Nissen Foods and the upcoming launch of their Cup Noodles product package in our The rollout is expected to begin in the Q1 of 2024, Aligned with consumer preferences for more sustainable packaging options, Nissen plans to convert their entire 16 ounce Cup Noodles product line in the U. S. From foam to our solution over time. This packaging application marks our first And microwave costs as we continue to expand the addressable market within the more than $4,000,000,000 comp and container market in the U.

Speaker 2

S. Our history serving retail markets and our ability to invest behind and scale with customers creates new opportunities Across various dry food categories that today are primarily in foam and plastic. Items such as pasta, hot cereals, Breakfast mixes and single serve dried foods are examples where our fiber based solution has tremendous potential to win. While discussing growth opportunities in the broader cup market, let me also provide an update on our program, Chin Fili. Last quarter, this important went to market with our new highly insulated double walled beverage cup in approximately 10% of its stores as a potential long term solution for its beverage program.

Speaker 2

Feedback from both stores and consumers has been favorable and Phase 1 of the program continues with rollouts currently underway to additional stores. We continue to believe our innovation can be a long term solution for Chick Fil A and others currently using foam cups and containers. Driving innovation with industry leaders like Chick Fil A and Nissen Foods demonstrates how top brands are investing to transition toward more sustainable packaging solutions. Through our extensive design and packaging network, we are partnering with leading brands to effectively transition to sustainable packaging solutions that consumers prefer. We believe long term tailwinds support the continued demand for this transition such as end use consumers seeking more sustainable packaging, Customers responding to demand and pursuing sustainability goals and in a growing number of jurisdictions, environmental legislation requiring the use of more Sustainable Packaging.

Speaker 2

Moving to Slide 6, let me provide a brief update on the significant progress we have made on our CRB transformation. Since 2019, we've embarked on a multiyear optimization effort to simplify our CRB system, while strategically expanding capacity and lowering cost. The end result will further distinguish Graphic Packaging as the lowest cost And highest quality coated recycled paperboard producers in North America. Our efforts to optimize and strategically expand capacity are the result Trends we identified early on, including growing consumer demand for packaging made from recycled materials. Our focused investments will ensure we will sustain unmatched quality and cost advantage in this important category for years to come.

Speaker 2

Since the project began, we have made significant progress in our CRB system transformation. With our new 550,000 ton K2 machine ramped In Kalamazoo, we have effectively increased our net CRP capacity by 70,000 tonnes to support our growth. 3 higher cost, less efficient facilities and our longest running paperboard machine in Kalamazoo, a total production of 480,000 tons have been removed from the system. As noted, this total includes our recently announced permanent decommissioning of the K3 machine. Our decision on K3 reflects the incredible success of the state of the art K2 machine, which has been operating at or above committed efficiency and quality levels.

Speaker 2

We look forward to replicating the success of K2 with our new CRB paperboard machine in Waco, Texas, which will expand upon our quality and cost advantages when it begins production in late 2025. As we've talked about before, the ability to cost effectively produce higher quality CRB allows us to meaningfully and profitably and opportunities within new markets and ones we already serve. One example of this quality improvement is the new pace center Revere Recycled paperboard, which we introduced last quarter. This new grade of the highest quality recycled paperboard available will facilitate CRB and more consumer packaging experiences across the food, health, pharmaceutical and beauty product applications. We are pleased to have our first sale of Pacesetter in the year in October and look forward to sharing many more packaging example wins in the quarters to come.

Speaker 2

The Q3 also included the release of our 2022 ESG report detailing the progress we have made towards achieving our Vision 2025 ESG Sustainability is an integral part of our business strategy and our impact extends well beyond our own business. We enable customers, including many of the world's leading household brands to transition towards recycled and more recyclable packaging solutions. I'd like to note a few key highlights from the report that can be seen on Slide 7. To start, we successfully achieved our goals for greenhouse gas emissions And nonrenewable energy intensity 3 years early. We did so through investments in efficient manufacturing and standing the scale of our packaging operations.

Speaker 2

For example, the K2 machine helped reduce emissions intensity associated with CRB production by an estimated 3% in 2022. We also highlighted we are on track with our goal to have 100% of our global So it's compliant with a fiber certification standard. Forest certification and certified sourcing programs give consumers confidence that our packaging does not Management and Forest product sourcing practices we follow to ensure compliance. We have more than 20 4,000 teammates worldwide, and I am proud of the progress we are making as we build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. There is always more work we can do, and we remain committed to fostering continuous improvement in the workplace centered around our employees' growth and sense of belonging.

Speaker 2

Slide 8 highlights the recent sustainability achievement I'm very excited to share with you. We learned in early October that the Science Based Targets Initiative approved our 2,032 Carbon reduction goals, which are outlined here. As an increasing number of consumers are voting with their wallets by purchasing Products and brands that are doing the right thing for the planet, we are proud to be filling our purpose to package life's everyday moments for a renewable future. With that, I'll turn the call over to Steve to provide more detail on the financial results. Steve?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Mike, and good morning. Let me start on Slide 9 with an overview of the key financial highlights for the Q3 and the 1st 9 months of 2023. Overall, our results demonstrate the resiliency of our business and ability to operate effectively through a very dynamic Macro environment. Net sales declined 4% year over year to $2,300,000,000 As Mike discussed, sales during the quarter were impacted by some fluctuations in consumer purchasing behavior and by efforts from retailers to adjust inventory levels. Those headwinds were partially offset by positive pricing execution and the impact of foreign exchange.

Speaker 3

Net organic sales growth adjusted for the same number of shipping days as in the prior year period was down 4.6% during the quarter. We now expect net organic sales to be plus or minus 2% in the 4th quarter with an anticipated return to our targeted 100 to 200 basis points of net organic sales growth in 2024. We remain confident in our innovation pipeline and our ability to execute on commercial opportunities to fuel our organic growth in the years ahead. Our expected 4 year cumulative average organic sales growth rate of approximately 2% From 2019 to 2023 remains at the high end of our annual range established with Vision 2025. Our top line performance is benefiting from our diverse portfolio of end markets and customers, While sales for the food, beverage and consumer markets decreased 6% in the quarter from the prior year period, Sales in our food service markets grew 8% as our packaging solutions continue to win as mobile consumers are looking for convenience When eating and drinking on the go.

Speaker 3

We are actively managing our supply to meet current demand, Exercising discipline in production, while minimizing the cost of doing so and focusing on servicing long term customer relationships with their packaging needs. Given the disciplined approach to production we exercised throughout our packaging business, Reported profitability is as strong as we anticipated despite short term fluctuations in the consumer environment. Adjusted EBITDA grew 9% year over year to $482,000,000 and adjusted EBITDA margins expanded by 250 basis points year over year to 20.5%. Adjusted EPS also continued to grow, expanding 10% year over year to 0 point 7 $4 As a reminder, our sales and EBITDA waterfalls are available for reference in the appendix of today's presentation. Global liquidity remains strong at nearly $1,200,000,000 Our success driving integration rates higher Was evident in the quarter with paperboard integration into our Consumer Packaging business at 79%.

Speaker 3

This is an increase of 500 basis points from the prior year period. As a reminder, This is an increase of 1200 basis points from 67% since January 2018 when we completed the combination with International Paper's North American Consumer Packaging Business. We will continue to drive integration rates higher as we capture and execute growth opportunities in consumer packaging. Slide 10 outlines updated full year guidance for 2023, reflecting our current expectations as well as the recent acquisition of Bell Incorporated. Most notably, the midpoints of our adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS guidance remains fundamentally unchanged.

Speaker 3

Turning to Slide 11. We continue our balanced approach to capital allocation, which focuses on growth and capital return. As discussed during today's call, we remain focused on investing for growth, such as the recent acquisition of Bell, Ongoing advancements in innovation and the new recycled paperboard facility in Waco, while also reducing leverage to the lower end of our targeted range and returning capital to shareholders. As of today, we have repurchased $54,000,000 stock year to date. Our balanced approach to capital allocation Position the business for continued success and delivers value for our stakeholders.

Speaker 3

With that, I will turn the call back to Mike.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Steve. And I'd like to thank our talented team around the globe. Their strong execution positions Graphic Packaging to meet our commitments to customers, Deliver value for stakeholders and continue our leadership in fiber based consumer packaging. I'm pleased to share with you that we will be hosting an Investor Day in New York on February 21, 2024. In addition to a strategic update on the business, we will provide Q4 and full year 2023 financial results, Guidance for 2024 and looking further into the future, our new Vision 2,030 aspiration and goals.

Speaker 2

We're excited to see many of you in person and look forward to providing more details on our plans for the future. I will now turn the call back to the operator to begin the question and answer session. Operator?

Operator

Thank So our first question comes from the line of Ghansham Panjabi of Baird, your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everybody. Mike, so just kind of looking back at 2023, it seems like this was the year of pricecost led margin expansion And just much weaker than forecast end markets given destocking and some level of consumer elasticity that perhaps offset many of your internal growth and productivity initiatives. Based on what you see at this point, what does 2024 look like? Would it be just better volumes just based on the comparison and There's some level of margin giveback based on the pricing trend line in the industry.

Speaker 4

And then maybe as a correlate to that for Steve, any variances you can share with us On an EBITDA basis such as price cost for 2024.

Speaker 2

Good to hear you. We had a little break up there, but I think I got the gist of your question talking about volumes here in 20 23, how we're thinking about them and kind of the as we're exiting 23 and then into 24. I'd say this, I mean, as we told you going into this quarter, Our Q3, this is going to be the toughest quarter versus 2022, we're up almost 5%. On a base adjusted basis, we came in flat with the 2nd quarter, really what we communicated at the end of the 2nd quarter. So pretty much in line with what we thought.

Speaker 2

And our comps get a little easier here in Q4. We were up a little less than 1% last year in Q4. So We've got a range out there of minus 2 plus 2. And really the real reason for that, as you know, is the recovery is It's not linear. It tends to be a little bit lumpier than anybody says.

Speaker 2

And from our standpoint, our crystal ball is no better or worse than anybody else's in In terms of when the actual inflection occurs, we have some customers that are talking about an elongated recovery. We have some customers that are talking about Promotions that are going to occur in Q4 and drive volumes. So it's a balance between those two things. They give us confidence as we head into 'twenty four around our ability to grow at our medium to long term guidance. We put up through 100 to 200 The first, of course, just to comps get easier coming off of this year.

Speaker 2

So that's point number 1. Point number 2 We've got a very robust and deep innovation pipeline. Examples like we gave here today, the Cup Noodles and Chick Fil A, Cold and Gold Cups, and there's been others almost every one of our updates. So we point to another thing that we're doing out there to replace usually plastic or foam I know it's fiber based packaging. So we know we'll grow with our innovation.

Speaker 2

And then second or the third point that I'd make is that's really what our customers are telling us. They need to grow too because ultimately their stocks don't work if they don't have top line growth that translates into volumes as well. So those three things really give us confidence as we go into 2024. Now exactly what is going to happen in Q1, Probably not, but our confidence is high that in 2024, it will grow again. And if you really take a step back too, over a 4 year period of time Now and you just say we're at kind of the midpoint of our guide for volumes here in Q4.

Speaker 2

We grew 3% a year for The 3 years coming into this year, this year, if we take a step back 2%, maybe 2.5%. But if you look at a 4 year stack on that, we're at our 2% target that we put out there, High end of the 100 to 200 basis points. So we knew over a long term aspiration goal that we put out like Vision 2025, there'd be some Ups and downs that occurred, but overall, we're very pleased with the overall trajectory and the growth that we've experienced in the business and expect that to continue in 2024.

Speaker 5

Gautam, it's Steve. Do you want

Speaker 3

to just reveal a little bit of your $124,000,000 just to make sure I've got it right?

Speaker 6

Yes. I was just curious

Speaker 4

on the variances on EBITDA, on price cost and whatever else you can share at this point.

Speaker 3

Yes. No, thank you for that. Just want to make sure that's what I thought you said. I mean, listen, as Mike just said, as we look into 2024, There are some real positives that we would expect will be beneficial to the P and L if you kind of look out to next year. We'll have a full year of the Bell acquisition.

Speaker 3

We acquired that in the Q4, so modest EBITDA this year. Just by way of reminder, we bought $30,000,000 of EBITDA $10,000,000 of synergy. So we'll pick up probably an incremental $20,000,000 from that next year along with the synergy. So think of that as a plus $30,000,000 to $200,000,000 to 200 basis points of organic sales growth and you know what that Value perspective, it would be at or above our margins as we generate and we should have a very strong productivity year. We will have less Planned maintenance that we have, less market related downtime as we return to growth And it's weather related event that was of substance, which certainly We don't plan for that to repeat.

Speaker 3

So those are 3 very positive benefits as we Labor and benefits inflation this year running a little bit, higher than normal. We'd expect that to get back And if you mark to market the current price cost environment, so just mark All of it pricing related, the $80 on SBS, the $20 on We're in a very benign inflationary environment year Sure. Obviously, as we've talked, we're very committed to Operating the company at a pretty narrow range of EBITDA margins. And this year, we move towards the 20%. And certainly, we would We expect to operate in a pretty thin band around that 20% as we look out to 2024.

Speaker 3

So hopefully that gives you some of the components. We'll obviously provide detailed guidance when we're together in February and provide that to you in a more granular level, but those are, I think, the high points if you kind of look at the year ahead.

Speaker 4

Perfect. Thank you so much. I'll turn it over.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Roxland, your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Thank you, Mike, Steve and Melanie Thanks for taking my questions and congrats on a good quarter despite the backdrop. On your last call, you mentioned contract Resets, particularly in North America, which have long duration, 2 to 5 years. And you mentioned, I think, the way that you phrased it was that there's a meaningful number of contracts That you still need to be addressed over the next 12 to 24 months, but have yet to reflect the higher prices. So is there any way that you could help us size that? Is that 20% of all contracts, 30% of all contracts.

Speaker 5

And the reason I'm trying to just drill down on that is because Steve just answered the prior question on some of the drivers for 2024, but wouldn't those Contract use that will also be beneficial to drive the EBITDA growth next year.

Speaker 3

Yes, Mike, it's Steve. Those to drive benefit next year as we also talked on the last quarter We don't tend to put those into the kind of mark to market discussions that we were just having. And at any time, To your point, we've got 20% or 30% of our contracts that are in negotiations in coming due. So as those play out, We'll certainly articulate those. If there are some that play out here late this year, we'll incorporate those in to guidance.

Speaker 3

But to your point, we continue to actively engage with our customers to put in appropriate value for the products That we're producing and have the kind of long term sticky relationships that we have a joy with many of our customers.

Speaker 5

Got it. Appreciate that, Steve. And just one quick follow-up. Any comment you have on trends that you're seeing thus far in October? Has there been any improvement at all Sequentially, no one appeared reported late yesterday and basically no improvement thus far in 4Q.

Speaker 5

So any commentary or color you can provide around what's Happened thus far in October, in terms of the order patterns, destocking coming to an end, CBD promotional activity, anything that would be helpful. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Well, Mike, we've obviously gotten a look into October. And with October is consistent with the plus or minus 2%. So we do expect to see sequential improvement quarter to quarter. And as Mike said, we've got customers who are seeing a positive move volumetrically already. We've got others who are Seeing it taking a little bit longer.

Speaker 3

And so we're thinking it's a good mix of customers who are starting to see some promotional activity Materialize in Q4, others aren't quite there yet as Mike articulated earlier, but sequential improvement in Q4 We can see happening.

Speaker 5

Thanks very much.

Operator

Thank you. So our next question? Our next question comes from the line of George Staphos of Bank of America. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hi, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for the details. Steve and Mike, I don't know if everyone is hearing it, but your phone has been cutting in and out a bit, at least on our end. And I just wanted to make sure, when you're answering Ghansham's question, Did you put out a at least mark to market on pricing that you see for 2024?

Speaker 7

Because if you did, we didn't hear that before we get into our questions.

Speaker 3

Yes. George, it's Steve. And our apologies if they're experiencing some technical challenges here. But let me in replying to Ghansham's question, What we did indicate is that if you just do a pure mark to market on price cost, we've got very little Happening on inflation, so pretty benign. And if you sequentially just look at the price impact year over year, It's down roughly about $80,000,000 year over year.

Speaker 3

And as Mike Roxland just mentioned, Obviously, we've got other customer negotiations that we're always involved with and improving terms and conditions where And they're in our negotiations. And so, I think that hopefully you were able to get that in response to anything That may have cut out. Did that work, George?

Speaker 7

That's perfect. And actually, that's kind of where we were modeling, doing some backgammon. So thank you for that. So two questions here very quickly. First of all, in terms of the Noodle Cup and related markets, what do you Think that market opportunity is for you and maybe what kind of tonnage you expect maybe for 2024 and 2025 from those markets.

Speaker 7

The coating in that cup, is that a bio coating or is that a poly coating and how will you handle that? And then The other question is just sort of near term, we noticed that and again performance was good given the backdrop. We don't want to take away from that. The free cash flow guide came down a little bit this year and you mentioned labor and benefit is running a little bit hotter this year than your prior guide. What were the factors in that?

Speaker 7

Thanks guys and I'll

Speaker 3

turn it over from here.

Speaker 2

I'll take the first part of that George and then I'll let Steve handle the questions there On working capital in particular, but the reality of it is, if you look at our total address Market and we put out there $12 plus 1,000,000,000 And within that addressable market, there's $4,000,000,000 segment of it. That's what we call cups and containers. So that's really where that fits. And so it's a very big opportunity for us and one that we can work on for years to come. In fact, the vast majority of our cups, including the Cup Noodles has some form of a low density polyethylene or polyethylene Barrier coating inside.

Speaker 2

And as we talked about, what we're really excited about is our ability to take those cups back to Waco And we can process with new vertical drum pulper that we're installing. They're up to 15,000,000 of those paper cups a day. With that Coating on the inside, clean them up, take advantage of the fiber that will be on the top wire. It will be the first fiber we put down And we recycle those stuff. So we're working with our customers within about a 200 mile radius of the mill to be able to have that capability.

Speaker 2

And eventually, you can We'll be able to do that in Kalamazoo as well. That's our plan. So we feel like we've got around focus.

Speaker 7

I'm sorry, could that be 50,000 tons next year, do you think, this new market, this new customer?

Speaker 2

I don't know. We're not going to put a tonnage I'm up there right now. I mean, I can tell you this that fully transitioned, the cup noodles is 15%. So I mean, these are meaningful Well, numbers that come forward. So it depends on kind of what Chick Fil A's trajectory looks like and some of the other conversions that are out there.

Speaker 2

But Over the medium term, we expect that we'll be able to make a pretty strong pivot out of our coated SPS And get more into manufacturing of the cup stock, which as you know, George, the split right now of our 1,200,000 tons is roughly 400,000 tons to 800,000 tons. So every time we sell a cup, it's something that we integrate into our own operation.

Speaker 3

Did you get all that George?

Speaker 7

Yes, that's perfect. Thank you. And on the variance?

Speaker 3

Yes. And let me just touch on that a couple of things that really on cash flow, we're just dialing in Our working capital, we're running very much to demand, as you know, and all we were really doing Okay, we're just going to continue to serve the customers, make the products that we need to make, carry the inventory that we want to carry to make sure we're service So we were really just dialing in that cash flow. I also will remind folks that when we had talked about 2.5 Times leverage ratio that excluded Bell. We mentioned we've got to be up in the 2.6 range, we put 2.6 to 2.7 because we've also been acquiring some shares as you saw in the modeling that we have shared with you on the guidance. So hopefully that gives you a sense for we're real pleased with where we're generating the cash flow.

Speaker 3

And As we look into 2024, it sets itself well to make sure we're servicing customers as they return towards

Speaker 7

Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Adam Samuelson of Goldman Sachs, your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Yes, thank you. Good morning, everyone. Hi, Adam. Hi. I guess the first question, just to clarify as we go

Speaker 2

to the

Speaker 5

Q4, the slides Talk about organic

Speaker 2

kind of volume mix down 2 to

Speaker 5

up 2. Steve, it sounds like you're talking about plus 2 in the Q4, and I just wanted to Make sure I was talking about the same you're hearing the same thing, talking about the same thing that we're seeing on the slides.

Speaker 3

Yes. No, Adam, for clarity and maybe something got lost there with some of the technical issues. No, what we're saying is Q4 plus 2 to minus 2, so 0 at the midpoint. And so we will see sequential improvement Over the minus 4s that we've seen over the last two quarters. And so it was plus 2, minus 2, And October is playing itself out consistent with that as we kind of look towards the 4th quarter.

Speaker 5

Okay. Now that's helpful. And then as we just think about moving into next year, you've talked on a bunch of these calls about kind of the How optimistic you've been about Pacesetter Rainier and that the quality of that board and the opportunities that that can unlock for a recycled board In new applications, how should we think about the commercialization of that and meaningful volumes that can be switched Into CRB based products, away from a CUK or SPF type offering and what that Can do from a margin perspective in next in 'twenty four if you think about that bridge?

Speaker 2

Yes. I think it's really a longer play than just 24. Adam, what I'm really encouraged about is the fact that we had our first sale in the quarter. It will ship actually here in Q4, Which is great. I'd tell you that customer interest is extremely high.

Speaker 2

We have many trials going underway and continue to have a lot of interest as you'd Given its characteristics, as we described on prior calls. So what it really does is gives us confidence as we look out the end of 'twenty five and end of 'twenty six We get Waco up and going. As you know, we're adding a couple of 100,000 tons. So we're going to be able to grow into that with the work that we're doing With the trial work and this new grade that we've got, some of the things we have around our mailer business that we got We expect that will grow. That's all CRB.

Speaker 2

So we're in a really nice spot. We've optimized Kalamazoo. We're building out Waco. It's on schedule. It's Coming along great.

Speaker 2

I was there a couple of weeks ago and got a chance to tour the site. And all the efforts that we've got going on here are really focused on making sure that we've got Demand take advantage of that 200,000 tons of growth that will show up when we start that machine off.

Speaker 5

Okay. I appreciate that color. I'll pass it on. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Arun Viswanathan of RBC Capital. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Great. Thanks for taking my question. Good morning. Good morning. I guess, your first question around volume.

Speaker 8

I think prior to this call, you had made some comments that your customers were reducing inventories At both maybe the brand level as well as the retail level. What have you noticed there? I mean is that Ongoing. And then similarly, do you consider any of those reductions as structural that is Just given the high interest rate environment and the inflation that we've seen, would it take really reductions in those two areas to really Get things going again and do you expect that, that should materialize next year? So maybe we'll start with that.

Speaker 8

Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. Arun, I'll take the first cut out and then Steve can add the commentary that he's got. I think, look, what you're referencing there and what we talked about on our Q2 call was the destocking Yes, Finan. And really in our industry started to hit the end of Q1 and kind of played out into Q2 a little bit of 3rd. We view destocking largely in our We're dealing with some elasticities with pricing and some of the products that our customers are selling.

Speaker 2

That's probably having more of an impact No, top line sales than anything else right now as I talked about with Ghansham with his question. Trading down, We don't see a lot of that in North America yet and it makes sense if you think about it. We still have less than 4% unemployment here. So anybody that wants a job can have a job. Mobility is high.

Speaker 2

That's really why our foodservice business actually grew organically from a volume standpoint. Of course, from a net sales standpoint, it was up almost 8% in the quarter. So That's solid. We're seeing trading down anywhere. It's in Europe, which you'd expect given the inflationary pressures that they're seeing.

Speaker 2

And we're well positioned to be able to handle that there too with the portfolio business that we have.

Speaker 6

Okay.

Speaker 8

Thanks for that. And then just kind of a follow on would be, have you seen increased promotional activity from some of these customers? And then another topic that I was just curious about was just on the side of pricing. I know that there was a reduction in SPS folding carton grades. Is that all that we've seen on the pricing front?

Speaker 8

Do we expect any more, maybe some price normalization or reductions Next year, so maybe, yes, you can just address the promotional environment as well as the pricing environment. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. So as I said around the promotional side of things, it's a bit of a it's lumpy. I mean, some customers are doing more of that right now and some have said They're protecting their pricing and expect more of an elongated recovery. So it's a bit of a mixed bag there. I expect as most of our customers They told us they want to grow their volumes next year, as I commented earlier.

Speaker 2

So I'd expect them to figure out ways to do that. And that usually comes in the form of promotions that they do or different merchandising options they've got available to us. And I don't think this will Any different this time. That's what gives us confidence in our ability to grow 100 to 200 basis points next year around 2. In regards to pricing, you mentioned the SBS Holding, that's decoded.

Speaker 2

That is down $80 a ton. CRB and CUK have moved down $20 in total this year. So that would be a complete summary of what has happened in terms of pricing in 2023. And as you would expect, we're not going to prognosticate around pricing here on a call. But what I would tell you At Graphic Packaging, our overall operating rates were pretty good.

Speaker 2

I mean, you saw it on one of the slides. 3 of the 4 substrates that we manufacture, We are actually at 90%, that being CRB, CUK and Cubstock. Those are highly integrated businesses for us as all of you know. The one that actually was light was the COVID SBS. And in our case, that was down around 70%.

Speaker 2

As we chose to really Great. Those assets match our supply and our demand, which would be our plan going forward here too. If you really take Step back from that and think about CUK in terms of what's going on there. Over the last couple of years, we're buying globally some additional paperboard in different geographies to run our business and service our customers. Because of some of the efficiencies we see and some of the demand adjustments that have We can now integrate all those tonnes into our own operation and export to more tonnes to Europe as well as to Australia and New Zealand.

Speaker 2

And so that really helps us on the CUK side. And on CRB with our K3 machine now being dumped down and it didn't produce Actually in Q3, but we did have a very significant annual outage in calendar on both our paper machines Ranging from 7 to 9 days. If you factor that 7 to 9 days out, our 90% was actually in the mid-90s. And we're running wide open on our CRB Some mills we have Kalamazoo, Middletown and East Angus to service our business in Q4 and we expect that to be the case as we go into 2021 or 2024 as well. Cup Stock, as we talked about with things like Cup O' Noodles and with our Chick Fil A and our overall foodservice business, which Grew in the quarter organically from a volume standpoint.

Speaker 2

That's a very solid business. It's highly integrated over 90%. Our challenges on the coated SBS has been well chronicled. But in our case, I gave the math for George, 400,000 tons Cup, 800,000 tons of coated. Of that high level numbers, we need about 300,000 of that to run our business.

Speaker 2

So the open market portion of For graphics, 500,000 tons. So it's about 10% of our overall volume. That's it. And as I've stated earlier, We're trying to find ways to continue to grow our cup business and we're going to need that capacity to ultimately service customers as these transitions out of foam and plastic continue to occur on the fiber side. So That's how I think you should think about the overall demand profile, which usually is tied to some level of pricing.

Speaker 8

Great. Thanks for that all that detail.

Speaker 2

You bet.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Matt Roberts of Raymond James. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Hey, good morning, everybody. My question, in regard to permanently shutting the K3 machine in the quarter, While that seems consistent with the initial plan you laid out in 2019, can you discuss how the timing Has that played out versus your initial expectations? And what are some of the assumptions or scenarios you're considering on the timing of closing East Angus in Middletown ahead of Waco.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks, Matt. And appreciate the question. I mean, from our standpoint, our plan was always to shut down our K3 The question was when could we do so and take care of our customers. And so with the ramp up of K2 and exceeding our expectations in terms Productivity and quality, we were able to do that on June 30.

Speaker 2

So that timing was good. And as I just mentioned, We need our remaining mills and assets to run well to take care of the business that we have. And so we do not plan on shutting down any of those mills Prior to our Waco facility up and running just simply because we're going to need the tons to service our business on the CRB side.

Speaker 3

Yes, Matt, just to expand on that, if you kind of step back and we shared it on one of the slides. I mean, we've really played this out since 2019 as described. How we got there is a little different, of course, but 550,000 tons in, 480,000 tons out. We've grown at a 2% CAGR over the last couple of years. We need those tons, and we've got demand for our CRB.

Speaker 3

And so as Mike mentioned, we'll continue To run the CRB platform, very full, taking of course our planned typical maintenance outages where appropriate. But there's a real strong outcome there relative to our original commitments and just repeating something like mentioned, same applies With CUK because of global demand for fiber based solutions.

Speaker 5

Right. That makes sense. Thank you both Mike and Steve. If I could follow on to that, thinking about maybe longer term supply here, A competitor announced it seems like they're delaying an FPP conversion citing market Softness, so how has that action changed your longer term industry supply estimates for 2025 and beyond, if so? And thank you all for taking the questions.

Speaker 2

I think on the margin, they're seeing exactly what I just got done describing. Where the FBB was going to compete is on the coated Yes, which is the weakest of all the grades. So that probably caused them to take some pause. In our case, we're actually Shifting out of coated SPS as we can and growing our cup stock business, we're going to have the lowest cost platform for CRB. In the Western Hemisphere, our CUK is incredibly competitive and highly integrated business, over 95% integrated.

Speaker 2

So we're just running a different race in terms of how we're putting it together and that isn't where we're going to spend our capital dollars or place our emphasis. We're a packaging company. We want to sell a cup. We want to sell a carton. And we'll make the grades of paper where we can actually earn A good return for our investors.

Speaker 2

And that's how you'll see us allocate our capital.

Speaker 3

Yes. And Matt, just to add to Mike's point, if you kind of then step back and assume that There is a long term delay on the project that you were referencing. From a capacity perspective, there is very limited The capacity that is underway coming into the market. There's one conversion happening with the competitor up in Of the main that has some incremental capacity. Obviously, we will bring on a little bit of incremental capacity to support our growth.

Speaker 3

And you've actually had some capacity reductions that are playing themselves out in SBS. And they take some time to roll through the market. I mean, the Canton Mill that was closed here is now fully down and I'm sure inventory levels are being managed through. So actual Capacity across all three substrates, very modest additions if you look out over the next 3 to 5 years, knowing the timelines for Any other decisions that someone may or may not make over time.

Speaker 2

Very helpful. Thank you again.

Speaker 5

You bet, Matt.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Mark Weintraub of Seaport Research Partners.

Speaker 6

Thank you. There had been quite a bit of static when you're answering Ghansham's questions, and I apologize I didn't get everything. So I just wanted to quickly review some of The framework on bridging 23 to 24, I think you mentioned Bell including synergies was about $30,000,000 positive EBITDA and then 100 to 200 basis points being your kind of baseline. So those I did hear. I apologize, I sort of lost I didn't hear too much on the productivity versus labor.

Speaker 6

Historically, that used to be a bit of a wash. Is what did you give specifics on sort of netting those 2 out for next year.

Speaker 3

Yes. Why don't I, given it sounds like there was a problem with that, let me just repeat the answer for you, Mark, So that you have kind of the whole context again, what we indicated was that on the positive front, as you just Articulated, but playing it back to you again. Bell will be an incremental positive next year, probably in the $30,000,000 range, combination of The business we acquired plus the synergies will earn on our 100 basis points to 200 basis points of organic sales growth. So if you $200,000,000 to $200,000,000 of top line growth will earn on that. That actually is a bit of a counterbalance to the price Cost relationship on a mark to market basis, so just all known pricing actions, probably about an $80,000,000 Net headwind offsetting the significant price that we've executed on over the last 3 years.

Speaker 3

And then we would expect our productivity to be very strong next We will have less planned maintenance downtime. We won't plan for a weather related event that occurred in 2023 in Q1 And less market related downtime as we return to growth. And so we would expect that to fully offset our labor and benefits inflation And as it normalizes back towards probably more towards that $100,000,000 range. And so those were the components, Mark, that we would see playing themselves out in 2024. So it will be a different year than 2023 in terms of Some of the pluses and minuses, but as also repeating it, we expect to operate in EBITDA margins that are Within range, a tight range, a tight range around that 20% that we're executing on this year.

Speaker 6

Okay, great. And then lastly, and a follow-up, I think, from Mike. You're talking about how there are resets, etcetera. And I just wasn't quite clear. So is the bias on the resets Necessarily to the positive and it's a question of magnitude or is that to be determined?

Speaker 3

Well, this is Steve, Mark. Our bias is to the positive, obviously, because we were renegotiating if someone has been under contract for quite some time and May not have the full increases that we've executed on because of the model they were on or what have you. The resets we would expect to be net favorable as we renegotiate them. And as repeating it from earlier, We don't outlook those until we're done, until we've successfully executed on them. And that's one of the reasons you've seen price Generally moving beyond what might be expected because of those successful negotiations that we've been undertaking for the last couple of years and of course We would embark continue to embark on as you look out to 2024.

Speaker 3

I don't know, Mike, if there's anything you'd add to that. No, I

Speaker 2

think you said it well.

Speaker 6

Got it. Very helpful. And maybe just lastly, and a topic you've already been hitting on, totally understand kind of the idea of Shifting some of the SPS folding carton, over to cup stock over time. I mean, you're operating at 70%. So I guess There's also opportunity if that market gets better next year, just selling it as Coded board.

Speaker 6

Can you give us kind of what is it that would make that what is it that needs to happen for that market to get better so you'd be running more full in that business. And is that part of the improved productivity that you were expecting and alluded to in the prior comments?

Speaker 2

Yes. So it's really 2 things. We need demand to obviously pick up and there's a variety of different verticals where that could happen. On the coated side of SBS, some of the more high end stuff as you know that historically has been used for that kind of paperboard. So that would be We'd earn on that if we had those sales.

Speaker 2

But as we talked about here, our approach has been we're going to match our supply and our demand and that's what we did here in the quarter. And ultimately, yes, the nurse itself and we pick up under absorbed fixed costs. I mean, that's exactly how it works We're able to operate the mill, but we're only going to do that if we have the orders to actually match that.

Speaker 3

Yes. And Mark, to Mike's point, As you know, SBS folding carton, so that specific grade is the most fragmented, most global, least integrated. And so given that there was obviously an overproduction of a little more magnitude over the last year, I think that speaks to the depth of the down, so down towards the 70%. We're matching our supply with demand. And to your point, When all of that plays out, which it is, whether it plays out and you go into 2024, when it does return to a normal pattern of A buy sell, if you will.

Speaker 3

There should be value creation there as you get more normalized volumes Rolling into 2024.

Speaker 6

Great. Appreciate all the color. Thank you.

Speaker 3

You bet.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Pettinari

Speaker 9

I think you saw net organic volumes down, I think, 6% year over year, but vol mix was a 9% Top line headwind. I was just wondering if you could talk about any mix shift you saw during the quarter. And then separately, I guess in 3Q, foodservice outperformed grocery on easier comps. Is it reasonable to expect Maybe those end markets could perform similarly in 4Q as they did in 3Q?

Speaker 3

Yes. Anthony, it's Steve. I think the Differential there that you're describing is all the open market paperboard sales, which were down year over year. So we outlined that On the Q3 net sales performance, you've got open market sales down a 100 a little over $100,000,000 So that's us Matching supply and demand, only producing paperboard that we sell into the open market where we have orders at pricing that we find consistent and acceptable. And so that's really the point there.

Speaker 3

The organic sales, as you know, As we've described, it is on when we make an end consumer package. And so hopefully that kind of breaks it out for you.

Speaker 9

Got it. Got it. And then the foodservice versus grocery, I mean, you think 4Q would maybe play out similarly to 3Q?

Speaker 3

Yes. I think the rate the relationships probably, yes, it will all be sequentially better as we're articulating. But I think as Mike has said and we've shared with you, the drive through just continues to win and fiber based Packaging through the drive thru is winning. And so overall, the performance of our foodservice business has been very good. It was actually up modestly organically in the quarter, which was a favorable outcome as part of the 8% Improvement year over year.

Speaker 3

So there's good momentum there as consumers want to be mobile, and they also want to have products that That are delivered to them effectively, mostly through the drive through. So I think the momentum there is very strong and then it's supported by the innovation Activity that we articulated to you as well here like Chick Fil A and others.

Speaker 9

Okay. Okay, that's helpful. And then shifting gears, there have been a lot of questions in the CPG and foodservice space around potential long term impact of GLP-one drugs. I'm just wondering if you had any kind of high level or initial thoughts on if or how this could impact your business or any anecdotes if consumers using GLP-one or maybe buying less or more or shifting their mix of products that you provide packaging for?

Speaker 2

Yes. So, Anthony, if you really and you've been watching many of our customers have done their releases over the last couple of weeks and they've commented a lot on this They've gotten a lot of questions on it. And it's early days in terms of that drug and I don't think we even know all the questions to ask Yes. But having said that, many of them have actually said they don't expect it to be much of an impact, if at all, on their business. And several have said they anticipate that this can be an area that perhaps they can innovate behind it.

Speaker 2

So I think we're just going to have to wait and see how that plays out over time, what the adoption rates are and how it all plays out. But there's nothing there we've Rates are and how it all plays out, but there's nothing there we've seen or read that gives us pause relative to our ability to drive our 100 to 200 basis points Organic volume growth over the medium to long term.

Speaker 9

Okay. That's very helpful. I'll turn it over.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Phil Ng of Jefferies.

Speaker 10

I appreciate squeezing me in here. Sorry to harp on this. I mean, The non integrated tons are obviously quite small for you, but you've given some color on how your volume trends have progressed through October and since you stripped that out And your net organic sales number and certainly SPS Volt and Karn seems to be a little more under pressure. How do you kind of see the open market tons progressing through the year? And I'm curious if you've seen any more impact just broadly on imports, at least RISI seems to be dialing up Comments around that and maybe it having more of an impact and making its way to the Midwest.

Speaker 2

I think the way we're dealing with the Open market, particularly on the coated SBS side, as you've seen in terms of the 70% operating rate for graphic is we're matching our supply And we'll continue to do that. That's our plan relative to how we would operate the business. I've already told you our CUK and CRB And uncoated cup business, those are strong businesses, highly integrated. Our operating rates are solid there. And I'd expect that to continue to be the case, particularly as we get some growth.

Speaker 2

Yes. I mean, it's a great question around imports. When you read some of the trade journals and how they talk about imports, Sounds like there's a wave coming. And I was interested particularly on the most recent one relative to CRP coming from Western Europe. So our team went back and pulled all the census data.

Speaker 2

We look back a couple of years in terms of what it looked like. Bill, 20,000 tons are less a year for the last 3 years. It's a 2,000,000 ton market. It's like 1%. So what's most surprising to me on that is just the amount of airplay that got, and because we don't see it in the marketplace and we're out there every day.

Speaker 2

We're the biggest producer of Coded CRB, as you know, and we're getting bigger. And maybe even to build on that a little bit, we're the lowest cost CRB producer in North America. And if you compare nat gas against Europe even today, it's almost 5 times more expensive, it's almost $20 an MMBtu. And it's more expensive to get a container from Europe than it is to go from the United States to Europe, almost 2x. And so if we thought Selling CRB to ourselves where we buy over 100,000 tons of material in Europe was a good long term plan.

Speaker 2

We'd be doing it And we're not, because it just isn't economically profitable over the cycle to be able to do that. So there's some stuff maybe around the margin out there. It gets a lot of airplay, but when you really look at the data and the numbers, it doesn't support the hype.

Speaker 10

Okay. That's helpful. That's great color. And then since you brought up Europe, just curious how is your business holding up there? Appreciate you're on the converting side.

Speaker 10

Maybe you're able to kind of Work through all this, but your ability to kind of manage price cost in the medium term as well.

Speaker 2

Our overall volumes in Europe were substantially similar to those in the United States. And I'll tell you what I in a word well, a couple of words maybe, our strategy is working there. And if you look at how we're doing it, we've got non Business here, we're one of the largest buyers of paperboard in Europe and that puts us in a great spot right now where the markets are a little bit Softer, as you've already mentioned here. And so we're buying paperboard very effectively. We're able to export our UK into that market profitably and have for a long time as we continue to grow our beverage business.

Speaker 2

So when you really look at it, and Steve and I talk about it a lot, Having a non integrated business over there, we don't have as much capital tied up to drive the revenue line in our European business. So when you look at the return on invested Capital and compare Europe to North America, which is obviously heavily integrated, in our own paperboard, they're on top of one another. So our overall strategy is actually delivering good results for shareholders.

Speaker 5

Okay. Appreciate the color. Thank you.

Speaker 2

You bet.

Operator

Our last question comes from the line of Gabe Hajde of Wells Fargo Securities. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 11

Mike, Steve, good morning.

Speaker 2

Good morning. Good morning.

Speaker 11

I had a question about backlogs. And I know you guys don't necessarily express it this way, but The 3 to 4 weeks, I think historically speaking, you guys have talked about is probably being towards the low end of what you'd consider to be Sort of a healthy balanced market. I'm just curious for this time of year, taking into account seasonality, is there anything Different unique about that number. You called out the 15,000 tons that would be associated with Nissin and I appreciate that was, I think full adoption. So, more thinking about Chick Fil A, I think you've identified that as maybe An 80,000 tonne opportunity and correct me if I'm inaccurate.

Speaker 11

Is there anything in that backlog number sort of for pipeline fill In the 24 associated with those two products. And then sort of when we're talking in February, Would you expect to see that backlog number change materially from where we're at today, again, just taking into account seasonality?

Speaker 5

Well, I'll answer the second part

Speaker 2

of your question first. I mean, the overall numbers you talked about are accurate relative to what some of those full conversion adoption rates They're directionally correct at least for your modeling. In regards to backlogs, I think you got to take a step back and think about we're talking about operating rates now and you're taking downtime To mass supply and demand. So backlogs, quite frankly, are artificial because they can be whatever you want them to be based on the amount of downtime that you take. So the more germane point is, as we try to articulate here, Gabe, out of 3 of the 4 substrates, We're very busy on 3 of those.

Speaker 2

It's the coated SBS, that's the one that is our it's got the biggest challenges for us for the reasons we've already chronicled. I wouldn't get overly hung up around whether it's 3, 4, 5, 6 weeks. That matters when you're running both. And right now, particularly on the coated SBS side, we're not. And so I'd watch those operating rates and really watch and see What our overall growth development looks like here in Q4 and into 2024 because as we grow 100 to 200 basis points, that's where those tons come.

Speaker 2

And I already mentioned the other thing that is out there is that we're no longer going to buy as many tons internationally On the CUK side, so that will actually help drive some of that back too.

Speaker 3

Yes, Gabe, just playing that back. I mean, you just kind of rounded that Mike was just We've got fundamentally STS folding carton in the open market, which has the appropriate headwinds and it's Well under 10% of the company, well under 10% of the company. And so you've got 90 plus percent of the company that's functioning as we've been articulating to you here this morning with good volume and an expectation of a return to organic sales growth That we'll earn on in 2024.

Speaker 11

Okay. No, I appreciate that, gentlemen. The last one, if I could squeeze it in real quick. If my model is correct or my notes, you had about $65,000,000 last second half of twenty twenty two of additional incentive comp accruals. I'm sort of bridging this into the free cash flow number.

Speaker 11

So I'm assuming I don't know what that relationship looks like on the IC front versus H2 2023. Just curious if that's helping the second half at all. And then really again, to put a finer point on the working capital Component of your cash flow bridge. Are you assuming some sort of a, call it, $150,000,000 $175,000,000 use this year?

Speaker 3

Hey, Gabe, it's Steve. On the first Component, the incentive compensation year over year is very similar. So there's not anything there that is a headwind or a tailwind. So it's all Pretty consistent, 22 to 23 and it's all in the guide. I don't have the exact number in front of me, but Yes.

Speaker 3

To get to the midpoint of our working capital, there'll be some use of cash on the working capital front as we dial in kind of where do we On inventory levels, where do we want to run supply to meet demand. So I'm sure your model on the use knowing Where interest expense is, where pension expense is, where taxes are, you may be a little light on taxes. Our cash taxes This year are moving up as we become a U. S. Cash taxpayer.

Speaker 3

We're going to have the right to do that. So we'll provide some more detail as We kind of work through modeling for next year, but I think the key is that we're going to generate the midpoint of that cash flow and our leverage is going to end the year At the lower end of our range. And by the way, that's a raw leverage calculation. It's not pro form a. It's the real leverage of the company after spending $260,000,000 to acquire Bell.

Speaker 11

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Speaker 5

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. As there are no additional questions waiting at this time, I'd like I hand the call back to the President and CEO, Mike Doss, for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

I want to thank all of you for joining us on the call today. We apologize For the technical difficulties, if you experience those on your end. And we look forward to talking to all of you in February at our investor event in New York City. Hope everybody has a great fall and a safe day today. Happy Halloween.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for joining the Graphics Packaging Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Have a great rest of your day. You may now disconnect your lines.

Powered by Quartr
Earnings Conference Call
Graphic Packaging Q3 2023
00:00 / 00:00