3rd May 2007 11:00
Rexam PLC03 May 2007 Rexam Annual General Meeting 2007 Trading update Rolf Borjesson, Rexam's Chairman, is due to make the following statement attoday's Annual General Meeting: I am pleased to report that trading during the first quarter was on track. In our European Beverage Cans, we have implemented price increases on the opencontracts, and volume growth continues to be strong helping to balance higherthan expected aluminium costs. In the Americas, whilst volumes remain buoyantin South America, demand for soft drinks cans in the US has started slowlyacross the industry, although it is early in the season. A strike began on 10 April affecting nine of our North American beverage canplants. On 1 May, we negotiated a Tentative Agreement with the United SteelWorkers and our plant union presidents, which will be put to the members' votelater this week. To date we estimate that the strike has cost up to £15m. Froma customer perspective, we have managed to minimise disruption and deliverieshave been broadly unaffected. Plastic Packaging overall is on plan and the restructuring programme announcedlate last year in Make Up is nearing completion. Excluding the effect of the US strike, we currently anticipate the outcome forthe year as a whole to be in line with our expectations, although, as advised atthe preliminary results in February 2007, we still expect the impact of inputcosts to be most severe in the first half of the year. 3 May 2007Enquiries Leslie Van de Walle, Chief Executive Officer +44 20 7227 4100David Robbie, Finance Director Financial DynamicsRichard Mountain +44 20 7269 7291 Rexam is a leading global consumer packaging company and the largest beveragecan maker in the world. Our vision is to be the leading global consumerpackaging company. We are business partners to many of the world's most famousand successful consumer brands as well as young, entrepreneurial start-ups. Weoffer a broad range of packaging services and solutions for differentindustries, using different materials and technologies. We have some 24,200people in more than 20 countries. Three things characterise us - leadership inour industry, our commitment to innovation and our passion to deliverexceptional value. Rexam has an ongoing turnover of approximately £3.7 billionand is a member of the FTSE 100. Rexam's ordinary shares are listed with the UKListing Authority and trade on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol REX.In March 2007, Rexam announced that it is to sell its Glass business for €660m(£449m). The deal is subject to regulatory authority clearance and is awaitingcompletion. For further information on Rexam, visit www.rexam.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
REX.L