Owens-Illinois called an investor meeting last week to roll out new strategies after it posted a profit loss in recent financial results.
New company chief executive Andres Lopez outlined initiatives O-I (which has plants in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane) is implementing to move the Perrysburg-headquartered glass packaging manufacturer forward.
US newspaper The Blade reported that Lopez, in his presentation on Tuesday, admitted the company had “a credibility gap”.
Despite the most recent financial performance, which included a 2015 loss of US$74 million and a fourth-quarter loss of US$202 million, Lopez said the mood at O-I is optimistic thanks to a strong management team.
Despite the global profit loss, segment operating profit in the Asia Pacific, excluding the impact of foreign currency, increased by AU$9.4 million, or about 28 per cent, year over year.
This was mainly due to higher sales and production volume, as well as the benefit of insurance proceeds related to storm damage in Australia that occurred in 2014.
“I’m confident we'll deliver positive, sustainable results to improve shareholder value,” Lopez said.
However, that will mean correcting some issues with legacy products that have hurt the manufacturer's performance.
To do that, Lopez said it was critical to establish revenue and operating stability in the future.
The company must make significant improvements in its operational efficiencies and maximise Vitro S.A.B. de C.V., the Mexican food and beverage glass supplier it bought last year, he said.
O-I has plans to strengthen its global footprint of 80 plants across 20 countries.
Lopez said O-I is becoming more reliant on income from its large, well-known customers as well as smaller customers who are selling premium products and require more flexibility, such as glass packaging for craft brews, premium products, and super-premium products.
That market is growing and already represents 40 per cent of the North American market, he said.
