CCL Industries Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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May 14, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Q1 sales rose 2.8% to CAD 1.94 billion, with 1.9% organic growth, while operating income was essentially flat year over year at CAD 317.5 million. Adjusted EPS increased 1.7%, helped by a lower share count and reduced interest expense.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Free cash flow remained strong at CAD 37.3 million in the quarter, and trailing 12-month free cash flow was near record levels. Net debt increased to CAD 1.38 billion, but leverage stayed low at about 0.8x and liquidity remained robust.
  • Positive Sentiment: The company returned CAD 129.8 million to shareholders in the quarter through dividends and buybacks, and management expects more capital returns in 2026 under the new automatic repurchase plan. The board also authorized up to CAD 1.2 billion of share purchases over 12 months.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Inflation is a key near-term headwind, especially higher aluminum and resin costs in Europe, but management said pass-through mechanisms are generally working with some lag. They expect margins to remain relatively stable as pricing actions flow through, though timing could affect Q2.
  • Positive Sentiment: Segment momentum was mixed but generally constructive: CCL posted solid organic growth, Avery saw strong direct-to-consumer performance, and Checkpoint’s RFID inlays grew in a down market. Innovia had strong results in Poland and North America, though the new German plant is still in ramp-up mode and not yet profitable.
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Earnings Conference Call
CCL Industries Q1 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 11 speakers on the call.

Speaker 7

Good morning, and welcome to CCL Industries 2026 first quarter investor update. Please note that there will be a question-and-answer session after the call. The moderator for today is Mr. Geoffrey T. Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer, and joining him is Mr. Sean P. Washchuk, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead, gentlemen.

Speaker 8

Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Holly. Here we are on our 1st quarter investor update. I'll draw everyone's attention to slide 2. If I can advance the slide here. That's our disclaimer regarding forward-looking information. I'll let everyone note that our risks and uncertainties and opportunities are under our annual MD&A and our 1st quarter 2026 report, particularly under the section risks and uncertainties. Our annual and quarterly reports can be found online at the company's website, cclind.com, or on sedarplus.ca. Moving to our summary of financial results, slide number 3.

Speaker 8

For the first quarter of 2026, sales increased 2.8% with 1.9% organic growth, 0.3% acquisition-related growth, and 0.6% positive impact from foreign currency translation, resulting in sales of CAD 1.94 billion compared to approximately CAD 1.89 billion in the first quarter of 2025. Operating income was CAD 317.5 million for the 2026 first quarter compared to CAD 316.9 million for the first quarter of 2025, an improvement of 0.2%. Jeff will expand on the segmented operating results of our CCL, Avery, Checkpoint, and Innovia segments momentarily. Corporate expenses were down for the 2026 first quarter compared to the prior year first quarter due to lower variable compensation expenses.

Speaker 8

Consolidated EBITDA for the 2026 first quarter, excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, increased 1% compared to the same period in 2025. Net finance expense was CAD 16.7 million for the first quarter of 2026, lower than the CAD 18.5 million for the first quarter of 2025. The decrease is due to higher finance income earned on the company's cash and cash equivalents and a reduction of finance costs on the company's drawn bank debt. The overall effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2026 was 25.4% compared to an effective tax rate of 24.7% recorded in the first quarter of 2025 due to an increase in taxable income and higher tax jurisdictions.

Speaker 8

If the effective tax rate may change in future periods depending on the proportion of taxable income earned in different tax jurisdictions with different rates. Net earnings for the 2026 first quarter was CAD 204.9 million compared to CAD 207.4 million for the 2025 first quarter. Moving to slide 4, earnings per share. Basic and adjusted basic earnings per Class B share were CAD 1.18 and CAD 1.20 respectively for the 2026 first quarter compared to CAD 1.18 basic and adjusted basic earnings per Class B share for the 2025 first quarter. Adjusted earnings per Class B share increased 1.7% compared to the first quarter of 2025.

Speaker 8

The CAD 0.02 increase in adjusted basic earnings per share was primarily driven by CAD 0.02 from reduced share count, CAD 0.01 from reduced interest expense, offset by a CAD 0.01 increase from our tax rate. Moving to the next slide, free cash flow from operations. For the first quarter of 2026, free cash flow from operations was an inflow of CAD 37.3 million, almost equal to the inflow of CAD 39.1 million posted for the first quarter of 2025. This slight decrease is principally due to an increase in net working capital, part offset by lower net CapEx and taxes paid for the first quarter of 2026 compared to the prior year first quarter. For the trailing 12 months, our free cash flow from operations remains near record levels. Moving to the next slide, returns to shareholders.

Speaker 8

During the 1st quarter of 2026, the company moved from a discretionary share buyback to an automatic share repurchase plan. Commencing March 2nd to the end of the quarter, March 31st, 2026, the company repurchased approximately 779,000 shares for CAD 67.5 million. In addition, during the blackout period, April 1st until yesterday, the company also repurchased an additional 1.4 million shares for CAD 119.5 million. Including the 12.5% increase in the 2026 annual dividend that we announced in February, dividends paid for the quarter amounted to CAD 62.3 million, for a total of CAD 129.8 million returned to shareholders during the quarter.

Speaker 8

It's the company's expectation that more will be returned to shareholders in 2026 as the automatic share repurchase plan is active in the market daily. Including blackout periods where we were previously restricted in 2025 due to our normal course issuer bid being discretionary. Our board of directors has authorized management commencing March 2, 2026 to purchase up to CAD 1.2 billion of shares over the next 12-month period. Moving to our next slide, cash and debt summary. Net debt as at March 31, 2026 was CAD 1.38 billion, an increase of CAD 115.3 million compared to December 31, 2025. This increase is principally a result of higher total debt outstanding due to capital expenditures and share buyback activities.

Speaker 8

Despite the increase in the company's net debt, the balance sheet closed the quarter in a strong position. Our balance sheet leverage ratio was approximately 0.8 times at March 31, 2026, up from 0.78 times reported at December 31, 2025. Liquidity was robust with nearly CAD 1 billion of cash on hand and $949 million U.S. of available undrawn credit capacity in our revolving credit facility. The company's overall average finance rate was approximately 2.5% on March 31, same as December 31, 2025. The company's balance sheet continued to be well-positioned as we move through 2026. Geoff, over to you.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Sean. Good morning, everybody. I'm on slide 8, highlights the capital spending for the year. Little under CAD 100 million spent in the first quarter. We're planning to spend CAD 470 million for the year of 2026. Slide 9 highlights for the CCL segment. Solid 3.1% organic growth driven by low single-digit decline in North America and the Middle East. Mid-single digit growth in Europe and Latin America and Asia Pacific, where we were very strong due to CCL Design up in the mid-teens. We had good results at CCL Design, CCL Secure, and Healthcare & Specialty, and had a strong recovery in food and beverage from recent period of soft comps. HPC profits were down under the capacity interruption we mentioned in the press release at our U.S. aluminum container plant and slow tube sales.

Speaker 4

Labels for mass markets were solid globally, with strong results in Europe and Asia. Slide 10, highlights for Avery. Strong quarter in the direct-to-consumer space globally, especially RFID-enabled cards and wristbands, and recent acquisitions are also performing. Back to school orders we expect to be up a little this year, glad to say they're now tariff-free, unlike last year, and we saw solid progress in horticulture. Checkpoint segment. The MAS business had another good quarter in Europe. It was weak in the Americas and also a little slower in the Asia Pacific region. Apparel label results were impacted by an abundance of inventory caution across the industry's supply chain. RFID inlay sales are still, however, up in a down market, Mexican startup losses in our new plant there continue. Slide 12, highlights for Innovia.

Speaker 4

Strong results in our Polish operation, where we make a lot of label films. Good growth there, including good success with Eco Float. Volume, however, declined from our U.K. and Australian plants, with deliveries to the Middle East also impeded. The new German plant startup costs sequentially declined. Very solid quarter in North America, modestly below a very robust prior year period. Outlook for the coming quarter. The overall CCL segment orders are solid, but we have significant inflation to manage, which we'll talk about on the Q&A session, and the Sleever acquisition is due to close late this quarter, probably in June. Avery direct-to-consumer growth is due to continue. Apparel orders are expected to improve in coming quarters at Checkpoint, and our confidence in RFID remains very solid. Innovia demand was strong in April, and buy forward activity in the label materials supply chain.

Speaker 4

That could aid Q2, but potentially hurt Q3 as buy forward activities normalize as things progress. FX looks decidedly neutral for the coming quarter. With that, operator, we'd like to open up for questions.

Speaker 7

Certainly. At this time, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. one moment please while we poll for questions. Your first question for today is from Sean Steuart with TD Cowen.

Speaker 9

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. A couple of questions.

Speaker 4

Good morning, Sean.

Speaker 9

Morning. Geoff, hoping you can give context on the inflationary environment you mentioned, you know, I guess from two perspectives. You know, it's our impression that you guys have a lot of pass-through mechanisms, but we're a few months into this now. Can you give some context on inflation across the system and how those pass-through mechanisms are working? On the demand side, are you seeing any evidence of broader macro concerns starting to feed into demand pressure at all?

Speaker 4

I'll deal with the first part of that question. Aluminum hit CAD 6,000 a ton a few weeks ago. We have good pass-through mechanisms in that business, but it'll affect demand for our products. We haven't seen any change to that as we stand, it's at the very elevated rate compared to historical levels. The pass-through mechanisms are pretty robust and are in process. There's a bit of a lag. Some of the customers have 90-day averages, some of them are immediate, some of them have no gain, no pain clauses. It's a bit of a mix, it's generally speaking a bit of a lag when you get a big increase, that will probably pass as we accelerate through Q2, as long as aluminum doesn't go to CAD 7,000 a ton.

Speaker 4

The other area of weakness is in Europe, where the resin markets have really escalated pretty significantly. Stress mainly in Europe. We've seen some increases in the U.S., but not to the same extent as we've seen in Europe. There, the pass-through mechanisms are much more mixed, so it's much more by negotiation. Everyone has been declaring price increases, so we're pretty sure we know what the customers are expecting, and we're expecting to see that margin still stay stable as the quarter progresses. The CPG space has been quite reasonable in the first quarter. Orders have been okay. You've seen the results from all of our customers, they've been pretty solid with volume increases. Whether that will continue in the light of gasoline prices, only time will tell.

Speaker 4

We're looking to see what happens with that same as everybody else is.

Speaker 9

Okay. Thanks for that detail, Jeff. On the M&A front, between Sleever and the other acquisition, you have about CAD 180 million earmarked for acquisitions in Q2. That's small relative to your liquidity position. Can you give some context on your appetite for more M&A and the depth of the evolving opportunity set?

Speaker 4

Well, we're always interested in M&A. That's our priority for excess free cash flow. I haven't got anything more to add than that. You know, we still have a pipeline, we'll see what happens as the year progresses.

Speaker 9

Okay. Okay, that's all I have for now. Thank you very much.

Speaker 4

Thanks. No probs.

Speaker 7

Your next question is from Hamir Patel with CIBC Capital Markets.

Speaker 5

Hi, good morning. Geoffrey, I appreciate that Innovia focuses more on EBITDA dollars than margins. How should we think about the scale of price comps that you're likely to realize here in Q2, just given the resin headwinds you mentioned? Also, I know the prepared remarks referenced a potential volume pull forward from Q3. Just wondering if you could quantify that.

Speaker 4

Well, I can't really quantify it, but I can tell you our orders have been up pretty significantly for late March and through most of April so far, and also in the early part of May. How much of that is dollar price increases? How much of that is buying forward ahead of worries about further price increases? Label materials industry has announced price increases ahead of implementing them. That always triggers demand to people, label converters to buy forward, and that feeds back into Innovia. We'll just have to wait and see. The order situation has been very strong, but we know it's not demand based. It's definitely all activity around the current price activity in the channel.

Speaker 5

All right. Fair enough. I just wanna ask on RFID, you sounded confident on the growth there. You know, maybe if you could speak to your expectations on market growth this year and whether you think you're gaining share in this market.

Speaker 4

Well, the market declined last year, the numbers of RFID inlays reduced by the industry last year declined for the first time in many years, and that was all driven by the changes in the apparel channel. It's stabilized now. We think it'll return to growth maybe even in the coming quarter. We did actually grow a bit in terms of the number of inlays produced across the board, both in apparel and outside of apparel. That's why we still have great confidence that the business will still grow. It's definitely took a knock in the apparel space for sure.

Speaker 5

Okay, great. Thanks. That's all I had. I'll turn over.

Speaker 4

Okay.

Speaker 7

Your next question for today is from Ahmed Abdullah with National Bank of Canada.

Operator

Yeah, good morning, and thanks for taking my question. Can you quantify the financial impact from the thermal oxidizer outage at the Pennsylvania facility, and how much insurance recovery you expect to recognize over the balance of the year?

Speaker 4

About $5 million.

Operator

CAD 5 million? Okay, thanks. Just on Innovia, can you give us an update on the utilization ramp and profitability trajectory of the new Thinggage line in Germany? When do you expect that asset to start contributing positively to segment margins?

Speaker 4

Well, I think it'll be a while before that happens, but the order pipeline is progressing quite nicely. Takes a long time to get approvals to switch as it goes through testing and all the rest of it, so. We're quite pleased with the pipeline progress. How soon we'll move into positive? We're more focused on positive cash flow at the moment, as soon as the EBITDA is positive, we'll let you know that. I think that'll be a quarter or two before that happens. Before we get EBIT contribution, I think that'll be small to limited this year. It should be very different picture in 2027.

Operator

Okay, that's great. Just if I can squeeze in just a follow-up on the demand question. At CCL, you referenced softness in higher-end beauty markets while mass market demand remained resilient. Are you seeing a broader consumer trade-down dynamic across the categories you're in?

Speaker 4

No, I wouldn't call it trade down. It's just that certain categories of products in the high-end beauty space, we've definitely seen some impact in those areas in some specialty brand owners. The first quarter for that was slow. It has picked up in Q2, I can tell you that. It may have been situation around excess inventories at holiday last year. I don't know. It was certainly slow in Q1. It's picked up a bit in Q2. Things like shampoos, skin cares, deodorants, things of that order, everyday items, that's been pretty solid.

Operator

Okay, that's helpful. Okay, I'll pass the line. Thank you very much.

Speaker 4

No problem.

Speaker 7

Your next question is coming from Michael Glen with Raymond James.

Speaker 6

Hey, good morning. Jeff, can you just maybe remind us for the label business specifically, how some of the inflation and pass-through mechanisms work in those product lines?

Speaker 4

Well, we have tens of thousands of SKUs in the label space, probably hundreds of thousands, actually. A lot of it's done with spot changes, so things are changing all the time, the designs, the shapes and sizes. A lot of it's finesse pass-through. Some of it is more where the labels exist in a more continuous form. That we have pass-through arrangements for. I just wanna stress the heavy area of inflation is in Europe. We aren't seeing that anywhere near the same extent in either Asia, Latin America or Europe or the U.S. The focus for us is really around, particularly around Western Europe in the label space.

Speaker 6

And so what degree-

Speaker 4

That's how it works. It's a finesse pass-through, really.

Speaker 6

As we see resin prices increase specifically, does that naturally lead to flow through on the label input cost?

Speaker 4

Yeah, absolutely. It goes from the resin to the film producers, including Innovia and other producers, into the laminators and then out to us, and it happens pretty quick.

Speaker 6

Okay. Then just on Checkpoint, you did have very modest organic growth in the segment, but margins were down. What is the big item that is overhanging margins in Checkpoint in Q1?

Speaker 4

It's really the weakness in the MAS business in the U.S.

Speaker 6

Okay. Okay, thank you.

Speaker 7

Your next question is from Arthur Nagorny with RBC Capital Markets.

Speaker 1

Hey, good morning. I just wanted to circle back to the disruption in the Middle East. It doesn't seem like you have material direct exposure. I think you called out CCL segment organic growth in the region down only low single digits. Is there any chance you can detail for us what your footprint looks like in the region?

Speaker 4

We have plants in Egypt, which are obviously not really affected by the turmoil there. That's where our biggest operation is. We have a plant in Dubai, a plant in Saudi Arabia, a very small plant in Oman, and a plant in Pakistan. That's what we refer to as the Middle East. There was very low single-digit decline. It was almost flat, actually. We've seen very limited disruption in the CPG space in those businesses since the trouble started.

Speaker 1

Okay, that's helpful. I don't think you'd have any meaningful exposure here, but figured I'd ask anyways. On the Section 232 tariff update that was announced a few weeks ago, would you have any exposure maybe in the aluminum cans business or anything else for us to kinda keep in mind there?

Speaker 4

Yeah. The Section 232 tariff changes really eliminated the potential to be charged for empty cans crossing the border. Filled cans were tariff-free. Empty cans, they tried to get those to be subject to a tariff. That now seems to have fallen by the wayside. That's good news for us and our customers.

Speaker 1

Got it. Maybe switching over to Avery, you know that the back-to-school season is expected to be tariff-free this time around. Can you maybe just detail what your supply chain exposure looks like at this point in time?

Speaker 4

Well, we've localized more of the production into our operations in Mexico, the raw material supplies. We managed to localize that to a sufficient enough extent where we can claim US MCO status, and that's now been documented and agreed. One of two leading retailers in the U.S. decided not to take supply chain risks from Asia this summer and opted to have brands that seem to be onshore. That's why we have greater confidence in back to school.

Speaker 1

Great. That's all for me. Thank you.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Speaker 7

Your next question for today is from David McFadden with ATB Cormark.

Speaker 3

Oh, great. Thank you. Yeah, 2 questions. Just on the RFID growth, I guess, we should assume that was probably in the single-digit range, right, for the quarter for you?

Speaker 4

The inlay growth was actually double digits, most of it occurred in the non-apparel space.

Speaker 3

Okay. Well, that's great. The RFID market itself, that was down, right, in the quarter, you would think?

Speaker 4

No. The year 2025 was down for sure. You're talking about the whole market. Yes, for sure it was down. Q1 2026, it was down. It was something. It wasn't down by much.

Speaker 3

Okay.

Speaker 4

I characterize it as flattish.

Speaker 3

Okay. What would you attribute to your, say, outperformance of the market?

Speaker 4

Well, we're not, we're, you know, we're still a small player, so it's probably more around the law of small numbers more than anything.

Speaker 3

Okay. Just moving to the CCL segment. The auto was weak within CCL Design. How soft was that in the quarter?

Speaker 4

Oh, it wasn't too bad. It was down about 3% in organic sales. Down a little bit in profit, but it was more than compensated by growth in electronics.

Speaker 3

Okay. When do you think?

Speaker 4

We did have one customer in Germany go bankrupt on us, that cost us. That was most of the profit problem. It was more triggered by customer bankruptcy, but it's an indication of softness in the industry in general.

Speaker 3

Okay. Given that then you're probably gonna face that for the next few quarters to lap that event, right?

Speaker 4

That's correct.

Speaker 3

Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 4

You know, I think it's still going to be offset by growth in electronics.

Speaker 3

Okay, okay. Outside of that one customer, would you say your CCL, like, the automotive part of CCL Design was maybe flat in the quarter?

Speaker 4

No, not flat in sales. They're down in sales.

Speaker 3

Okay.

Speaker 4

Close to flat in profit, excluding that one problem.

Speaker 3

Okay. Any idea when you think that might improve?

Speaker 4

In automotive?

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 4

No, your guess is as good as mine.

Speaker 3

Okay.

Speaker 4

I mean, there's a lot of speculation about automotive right now, so I think it wouldn't be wise for me to comment about what's going on with our customers. I mean, we'll just have to wait and see. In the label business in that space, we're still growing, so we're still encouraged by that. It's not a huge business for us. It's, you know, of the order of CAD 300 million-CAD 400 million annually, so it's not material to the whole company.

Speaker 3

Okay. All right, that's it for me. Thank you.

Speaker 4

No problem.

Speaker 7

Your next question is from Steven MacLeod with BMO Capital Markets.

Speaker 10

Thank you. Good morning, guys.

Speaker 4

Morning, Steve.

Speaker 10

Morning, Jeff. Just, you know, the outlook was certainly quite constructive. I'm just wondering, certainly on the top line, I'm just wondering, do you still expect kind of full-year organic sales growth in that low to mid-single digit range?

Speaker 4

Well, the comps get easier in the second half. We know that. You know, it's a pretty uncertain situation we face, Steven, with what's going on in the Middle East, we don't really know what the impact of all that's going to be on consumer behavior. That we have to wait and see. We haven't seen any signs of weakness yet in terms of business levels with our customers. We read the newspapers the same as everybody else. When you see gasoline at $5 and $6 a gallon in the U.S., that perturbs you to the extent of worrying, well, what effect will that have on consumer spending long term? So far we haven't seen much.

Speaker 10

Yeah. Okay. No, that's helpful. Then, you know, just when you think about all the inflation and that you referenced earlier, and that obviously, you know, we can all see. When you think about the CCL segment, is it fair to assume that you'd see sort of a more minimal or more moderate impact to margins from inflation just because of your pass-through mechanisms and the flow through of price?

Speaker 4

We've got fairly good pass-throughs, there's always a bit of a lag. We'll see in this quarter if how much impact of that there really is. We've been out putting in surcharges and price increases where that's necessary and pulling our supply chain levers, renegotiating with suppliers, and doing all the things you do in situations like this. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm not gonna speculate on what may or may not happen this quarter or the rest of the year. All I can tell you is right now, in a business where we have, you know, four to six weeks backlog, we haven't seen much change in circumstance so far.

Speaker 10

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you, Jeff. Maybe just one for Sean. Sean, you mentioned, you know, you now have the automatic buyback in place. Do you just expect to execute on that as the year progresses naturally?

Speaker 8

Yep. You know, if you look at our monthly reports that get filed, you'll see us in the market each day buying a quantity of shares depending where the share price is. As the share price moves up, we'll buy a little less. As it moves down, we'll buy a little bit more. We'll be active in supporting the stock daily.

Speaker 10

Right. Okay, great. Thanks, guys. Appreciate the color.

Speaker 8

No problem.

Speaker 7

Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1. Your next question for today is from Daryl Young with Stifel.

Speaker 2

Hey, good morning, everyone. I just wanted to ask one higher level question around AI, given it's the soup du jour. I would think your business is very well insulated from any disintermediation or disruption risk, but I was just curious if you're seeing any opportunities to implement efficiencies or cost saving exercises you might be starting to pursue around that.

Speaker 4

Well, technology tends to affect the design process first in any technology revolution. That's where we see it happening first. I think we're more likely to see that in the design intense businesses we have, which are really Avery and Checkpoint, the apparel label business of Checkpoint, which are, you know, I don't know, CAD 1 billion, CAD 1.4 billion, CAD 1.5 billion of our revenues. That's to give you a flavor for that. We're as intrigued by the productivity impact of AI as everybody is, but it's still early days.

Speaker 2

Got it. Okay. Thanks very much.

Speaker 4

No problem.

Speaker 7

We have reached the end of the question and answer session, and I will now turn the call over to Geoffrey T. Martin for closing remarks.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Holly, and thank you everybody for attending the call. We'll see you again in the summer. We'll hopefully have warmer weather than we've had this spring. Thank you very much.

Speaker 7

This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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