Consumer packaging company Rexam Plc said trading for the period since July 1 has been in line with its expectations, and it expects second half results to be similar to those of the first.

We are investing in carefully selected, high return projects in emerging markets and higher growth segments that will improve our overall growth prospects while keeping capital expenditure under tight control, chief executive Graham Chipchase said.

The company said both beverage cans and plastic packaging are performing as expected.

In beverage cans, specialty cans drove volume growth in Europe, though the growth rate was slower than in the first half due to stronger prior year comparators, the company said.

In plastic packaging, volumes in personal care continue to recover, healthcare volumes increased from last year.

Rexam said it will continue to invest in additional capacity to meet the strong demand for beverage cans in South America and specialty cans in North America.

Total installed capacity in South America will increase to 14 billion cans by 2012 from 11 billion in 2009, the company said.

We remain focused on cash, cost and return on capital to ensure our business is in good shape going into 2011, Rexam said.

For the first half ended June 2010, the company reported a pretax profit of 144 million pounds versus a loss of 30 million pounds in the year-ago period.
Reported group sales fell slightly at 2.49 billion pounds from 2.52 billion pounds, hit by a weaker US dollar and euro.

Shares of Rexam pared losses in Tuesday early trading and are currently trading 0.80 percent higher at 313.50 pence at 08:20 am GMT on the London Stock Exchange.

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