Ball Corp. Q2 Earnings Rise - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Ball Corp. (BLL) Thursday reported a rise in its second-quarter earnings attributable to the corporation to $153.1 million or $1.07 per share from $95.1 million or $0.63 per share a year ago. The company posted comparable earnings per share of $1.13. On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $1.03 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items. Quarterly sales edged up to $2.3 billion from $2.2 billion last year, whereas analysts estimated revenue of $2.25 billion. Commenting on the results, John Hayes, CEO of the company said: "Our improved second quarter results were due to improving demand for beverage cans, excellent performance in our global beverage operations and solid program execution in our aerospace business." Looking ahead, the company expects to achieve long-term earnings per share growth goal of 10 to 15 percent in 2014.