Smurfit Westrock Reports First Quarter 2026 Results

Smurfit Westrock plc (NYSE: SW, LSE: SWR) today announced the financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.

Key Points:

• Net Sales of $7,712 million
• Net Income of $63 million, with a Net Income Margin of 0.8%
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $1,076 million, with an Adjusted EBITDA Margin¹ of 14.0%
• Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities of $204 million
• Quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per ordinary share

 

Tony Smurfit, President and CEO, commented:

“Against the backdrop of continued macro uncertainty we have delivered a solid first quarter performance, generating an Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $1,076 million.

“Our Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the first quarter were negatively impacted by $65 million due to adverse weather events, primarily in our North American business.

“Our North American business represents our largest value creation opportunity. Demand across all paper grades improved progressively during the quarter. Reflecting this, containerboard pricing increased by a net $20 per ton in the quarter, with further price increases of $30 per ton implemented in April. Corrugated box volumes were in line with our expectations and reflect the continued evolution of our business mix and our approach to delivering value for customers. In corrugated, we onboarded over 600 new customers during the quarter. In our consumer and paperboard businesses, we continue to see strong customer adoption of our substrate‑agnostic offering. As a result of these actions, and a generally better operating environment, we expect volume growth in the second half of the year.

“Our EMEA & APAC business continues to significantly outperform our peers with continued growth during the quarter with an improving demand profile and customer wins. Containerboard prices increased during March and April, primarily as a result of increased energy costs and better demand. Our corrugated business will be implementing this containerboard increase with the usual time-lag, which we expect to happen in the second half of the year. As part of our continued asset optimization program, we have entered into consultations at one of our UK mills, with capacity of approximately 200 thousand tonnes of containerboard, and at four converting facilities in the UK and the Netherlands. Smurfit Westrock continues to lead through innovation and sustainability, recently hosting over 200 customers at our European Innovation Event, which showcased advancements in sustainable packaging design and AI‑enabled capabilities.

“Our Latin American business delivered another strong performance in the quarter with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 20%. Our unique, pan-regional offering and strong market positions, underpin our sustainable competitive advantage in this high growth region. The recent addition of a corrugated box plant in Ecuador expands our geographic reach, reinforces our position as the number one supplier in Latin America and increases our global paper integration.

“Our recently announced Medium-Term Plan targets an accelerated path to growth to 2030 and beyond through strong operational performance and disciplined capital allocation. We are focused on unlocking the full potential of North America, while continuing to outperform in EMEA & APAC, and delivering dynamic growth and strong margins in LATAM. Today, we see a stronger and a generally better industry operating environment. Assuming those conditions prevail, we currently expect to deliver Adjusted EBITDA² of between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion for the second quarter and, for the full year, we re-affirm our previous expectation of delivering Adjusted EBITDA² of between $5.0 billion and $5.3 billion.”

Download Q1 2026 Press Release

Download Q1 2026 Presentation

Dividend

Smurfit Westrock plc announced today that its Board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per share on its ordinary shares. The quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per ordinary share is payable on June 10, 2026 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 15, 2026. The default payment currency is U.S. Dollar for shareholders who hold their ordinary shares through a Depository Trust Company participant. It is also U.S. Dollar for shareholders holding their ordinary shares in registered form, unless a currency election has been registered with the Company’s Transfer Agent, Computershare Trust Company N.A. by 5:00 p.m. (New York) / 10:00 p.m. (Dublin) on May 14, 2026. The default payment currency for shareholders holding their ordinary shares in the form of Depository Interests is U.S. Dollar. Such shareholders can elect to receive the dividend in Pounds Sterling or Euro by providing their instructions to the Company’s Depositary Interest provider, Computershare Investor Services plc, by 12:00 p.m. (New York) / 5:00 p.m. (Dublin) on May 19, 2026.

Review of LSE Listing

Smurfit Westrock is undertaking a review of its listing on the London Stock Exchange (“LSE”). The outcome of the review may result in Smurfit Westrock delisting from the LSE. Smurfit Westrock’s primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange is not within the scope of the review. 

It is anticipated that this review will be completed during May 2026 and an update will be provided to shareholders on conclusion of the review.

Earnings Call

Management will host an earnings conference call today at 7:30 AM ET / 12:30 PM BST to discuss Smurfit Westrock’s financial results. The conference call will be accessible through a live webcast. Interested investors and other individuals can access the webcast, earnings release, and earnings presentation via the Company’s website at www.smurfitwestrock.com. The webcast will be available at https://investors.smurfitwestrock.com/overview and a replay of the webcast will be available on the website shortly after the call.

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Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes certain “forward-looking statements” (including within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) regarding, among other things, the plans, strategies, outcomes, outlooks, and prospects, both business and financial, of Smurfit Westrock, the expected benefits of the completed combination of Smurfit Kappa Group plc and WestRock Company (the “Combination”) (including, but not limited to, synergies, as well as our scale, geographic reach and product portfolio), our medium-term plan, demand outlook, operating environment and the impact of announced closures and additional economic downtime and any other statements regarding the Company's future expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, or future events, outlook or performance. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the beliefs and expectations of the management of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “estimate”, “project”, “plan”, “believe”, “expect”, “target”, “prospects”, “potential”, “commit”, “forecasts”, “aims”, “considered”, “likely” and variations of these words and similar future or conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon future circumstances that may or may not occur. Actual results may differ materially from the current expectations of the Company depending upon a number of factors affecting its business, including risks associated with the integration and performance of the Company following the Combination. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from plans, estimates or expectations include: our ability to deliver on our medium-term plan; changes in demand environment; our ability to deliver on our closure plan and associated efforts; our future cash payments associated with these initiatives; potential future cost savings associated with such initiatives; the amount of charges and the timing of such charges or actions described herein; potential future impairment charges; accuracy of assumptions associated with the charges; economic, competitive and market conditions generally, including macroeconomic uncertainty, customer inventory rebalancing, the impact of inflation and increases in energy, raw materials, shipping, labor and capital equipment costs; geo-economic fragmentation and protectionism such as tariffs, trade wars or similar governmental actions affecting the flows of goods, services or currency (including the implementation of tariffs by the US federal government and reciprocal tariffs and other protectionist or retaliatory measures governments in Europe, Asia, and other countries have taken or may take in response); the impact of prolonged or recurring U.S. federal government shutdowns and any resulting volatility in the capital markets or interruptions in the Company’s access to capital; the impact of public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics and any related company or governmental policies and actions to protect the health and safety of individuals or governmental policies or actions to maintain the functioning of national or global economies and markets; reduced supply of raw materials, energy and transportation, including from supply chain disruptions and labor shortages; developments related to pricing cycles and volumes; intense competition; the ability of the Company to successfully recover from a disaster or other business continuity problem due to a hurricane, flood, earthquake or other weather-event, terrorist attack, war, pandemic, security breach, cyber-attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made events, including the ability to function remotely during long-term disruptions; the Company's ability to respond to changing customer preferences and to protect intellectual property; the amount and timing of the Company's capital expenditures; risks related to international sales and operations; failures in the Company's quality control measures and systems resulting in faulty or contaminated products; cybersecurity risks, including threats to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data in the Company's systems; works stoppages and other labor disputes; the Company’s ability to establish and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and remediate any weaknesses in controls and processes; the Company's ability to retain or hire key personnel; risks related to sustainability matters, including climate change and scarce resources, as well as the Company's ability to comply with changing environmental laws and regulations; the Company's ability to successfully implement strategic transformation initiatives; results and impacts of acquisitions by the Company; the Company's significant levels of indebtedness; the impact of the Combination on the Company's credit ratings; the potential impairment of assets and goodwill; the availability of sufficient cash to distribute dividends to the Company's shareholders in line with current expectations; the scope, costs, timing and impact of any restructuring of operations and corporate and tax structure; evolving legal, regulatory and tax regimes; changes in economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere, and other factors that contribute to uncertainty and volatility, natural and man-made disasters, civil unrest, geopolitical uncertainty, and conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory, trade and policy changes associated with the current or subsequent Irish, US or UK administrations; legal proceedings instituted against the Company; actions by third parties, including government agencies; the Company's ability to promptly and effectively integrate Smurfit Kappa's and WestRock's businesses; the Company's ability to achieve the synergies and value creation contemplated by the Combination; the Company's ability to meet expectations regarding the accounting and tax treatments of the Combination, including the risk that the Internal Revenue Service may assert that the Company should be treated as a US corporation or be subject to certain unfavorable US federal income tax rules under Section 7874 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, as a result of the Combination; other factors such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behavior of other market participants, the actions of regulators and other factors such as changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which the Company's group operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions, and other risk factors included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. Neither the Company nor any of its associates or directors, officers or advisers provides any representation, assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of the events expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements will actually occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations (including under the UK Listing Rules, the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, the UK Market Abuse Regulation and other applicable regulations), the Company is under no obligation, and the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Basic EPS are non-GAAP measures. See the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations” below for discussion and reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP measures.
2. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. We have not reconciled Adjusted EBITDA outlook to the most comparable GAAP outlook because it is not possible to do so without unreasonable efforts due to the uncertainty and potential variability of reconciling items, which are dependent on future events and often outside of management’s control and which could be significant. Because such items cannot be reasonably predicted with the level of precision required, we are unable to provide an outlook for the comparable GAAP measure (net income).