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Ball Corp. reports increase in quarterly profit

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Ball Corp. reports increase in quarterly profit

Ball Corp. reported fourth-quarter 2017 net income of $184 million, or 52 cents per share, compared to $52 million, or 15 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Earnings before interest and taxes was at $339 million, compared to $163 million a year ago.

The packaging company posted net sales of $2.75 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, up from $2.52 billion in the year-ago quarter.

For full year 2017, the company posted net income of $399 million, compared to $263 million in the previous year. This figure includes the net effect of after-tax charges of $329 million, or 92 cents per share, stemming from the new U.S. law, business consolidation and other noncomparable costs. Net sales for 2017 came in at $10.98 billion, up from $9.06 billion a year ago.

All of the company's five segments reported increases in net sales in the 2017 fourth quarter, with the North and Central American beverage packing operations posting total sales of $998 million, up from $959 million in the prior year. The South American division reported net sales of $547 million from $437 million a year ago.

"In 2018, our free cash flow is estimated to be in the range of $900 million after capital spending of at least $600 million, and our initial estimates are to return approximately $500 million to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividends," Senior Vice President and CFO Scott C. Morrison said.

Chairman and CEO John A. Hayes said the company estimates that the U.S. tax changes "will lower our global effective tax rate on comparable earnings from approximately 25% in 2017 to approximately 23% in 2018." He added: "As we look forward, our synergy capture plans remain on track and we expect to make continued progress in 2018 as we drive toward our 2019 goals of $2 billion of comparable EBITDA and in excess of $1 billion of free cash flow."