Box maker Smurfit Westrock targets 40% increase in core profit by 2030

DUBLIN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Cardboard box maker Smurfit Westrock ​aims to ⁠grow its full-year core profit to $7 billion ​by 2030 from just under $5 billion last year, a goal it said on Wednesday hinged on maximising ​the ‌potential of its North American business. The world's biggest cardboard box maker reported full-year adjusted core earnings (EBITDA) for ⁠2025 of $4.94 billion, at the lower end of a $4.9 ⁠billion to $5.1 billion range that ​was revised down in October due to weak North American demand.

The Ireland-headquartered company said an 8% fall in fourth-quarter core profit in North America reflected its planned reduction in output there ​late ‌last year.

It said it also cut last year over 3,000 of the around 100,000 staff employed at the end of 2024 and exceeded the $400 million pretax cost savings targeted in the 2024 $11-billion merger of European-focussed Smurfit Kappa with U.S. rival WestRock.

So far in ​2026, Smurfit Westrock said it saw a "generally better industry operating environment" and forecast full-year core profit ‌rising to between $5 billion and $5.3 billion.

"We are focused on unlocking the full potential of North America, while continuing to outperform ‌in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific) and delivering dynamic growth and strong margins in Latin America," CEO Tony Smurfit said on the 2030 target. The target includes ​boosting profits in its largest market of North America to $4.2 billion from $3 billion.

The goal - which assumes market growth ‌of between 1.6% and 2% in North America, Europe and Latin America - should allow it to return around $5 billion to investors over the next five years via a progressive dividend policy, ⁠alongside ⁠the capacity for additional share buybacks from 2027, Smurfit Westrock ‌said.

Its UK-listed shares were broadly flat by 1200 GMT.

Smurfit added that the company had ended most of ​the U.S. loss-making contracts ​inherited from WestRock, and changed the way those sales staff ‌can target more profitable business. "We allow our salespeople to entertain our customers, make sure that they can buy them a drink. Nothing was allowed to be done before (at WestRock)," he told investors. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Smurfit West