Ball Corp Q3 Profit Up, Beats Estimates; Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - Ball Corp. (BLL) Thursday reported higher third-quarter earnings, as a decline in cost of sales helped offset a slight decrease in revenues. Profit also topped analysts' expectations, while revenues fell short.

Net profit increased to $147.4 million or $1.04 per share, from $115.2 million or $0.78 per share last year.

Excluding business consolidation and other activities, the company reported a profit of $156.8 million or $1.10 per share.

On average, fifteen analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated earnings to be $1.05. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Net revenues declined slightly to $2.24 billion from $2.28 billion in the previous year. Analysts projected revenues to be $2.30 billion.

"As we close out the year, we remain confident in our ability to increase EVA dollar generation and achieve our long-term diluted earnings per share growth goal of 10 to 15 percent," said CFO Scott Morrison.