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By the numbers: Fiscal Q3 2025
Net sales: $1.13B
Down 2.6% year over year
Net income: $69.4M
Compared with $93.6M in 2024
- Cost-cutting results: Greif is about nine months into its plan to cut $100 million in costs through 2027. Looking at business transformation and cost reduction, “at times that work can be uncomfortable. What our people know is that is how the company grows, moves from good to great, and ultimately creates shareholder value,” said CEO Ole Rosgaard on Thursday’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call.
- Financial results: Despite cautious consumer sentiment and a macroeconomy that is “not robust,” Rosgaard said that “from a big picture point of view, our volume performance clearly shows our strategy is working,” alluding to last year’s business unit reorganization to create four material-based sectors. Quarterly sales in the polymers unit, a new focus area for Greif, rose nearly 8% year over year, while sales for metals dipped 5.7% and fiber dropped 5.4%.
- Divestitures update: Greif’s containerboard business sale to Packaging Corporation of America is slated to close by the end of August; the companies previously said they anticipated a close by the end of the third quarter of the calendar year, Sept. 30. Meanwhile, the divestiture of Greif’s timberlands to Molpus Woodlands Group is scheduled to close Oct. 1, Rosgaard said. That’s a day later than originally planned to save $13 million in taxes, said CFO Larry Hilsheimer. Collectively, these divestitures “sharpen our portfolio to concentrate our efforts” on markets where the company has the most potential for growth and a competitive advantage, Rosgaard said.
- Watching trade: Executives said the estimated impact to Greif’s business from tariffs is worth about $10 million, which they say is little impact, due to the company operating in 40 countries and sourcing, manufacturing and selling its products locally. However, some of Greif’s large chemical customers “are not doing so well, and that's something we're following very closely,” Rosgaard said.
- Outlook: Greif’s free cash flow rose to roughly $171 million during the quarter, up almost 400% year over year, with positive expectations for the coming quarter, Hilsheimer said. The increase demonstrates “the resilience of our business model, regardless of macroeconomic conditions,” he said. Executives updated adjusted free cash flow guidance for 2025 to between $305 million and $315 million, compared with the previous low end of $280 million. “Greif today is a fundamentally stronger, more focused and more resilient company than ever before,” Rosgaard concluded. “We're not waiting for the macroeconomic environment to improve. We are creating our own path forward.”
