DS Smith Plc
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DS Smith Plc Financial Snapshot
Operating Performance
Fast Facts
Beech House, Maidenhead, SL6 The company reported revenue of US$3,176 million
Headquarters Address
8XY,United Kingdom during the fiscal year 2012 (2012). The company's
revenue declined at a compounded rate of 3.82%
Telephone + 44 16 28583400
during 2008–2012, with an annual growth of 11.94%
over 2011. In 2012, the company recorded an
Fax N/A operating margin of 2.31%, as against 5.97% in 2011.
Website www.dssmith.uk.com
Revenue and Margins
Ticker Symbol, Stock Exchange SMDS, London Stock Exchange (LON)
Number of Employees 10,150
Fiscal Year End April
Revenue (in US$ million) 3,176
SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
Diversified businesses Geographic concentration
Strong financial performance
Strong market position
Opportunities Threats
Growth trend of sustainable packaging Environmental liabilities
Restructuring initiatives Foreign currency risk
Intense competition
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DS Smith Plc - SWOT Profile Page 1
DS Smith Plc
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Business Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Company Overview ................................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Business Description ..............................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Major Products and Services .................................................................................................................................6
2 Analysis of Key Performance Indicators ............................................................................................... 7
2.1 Five Year Snapshot: Overview of Financial and Operational Performance Indicators ..........................................7
2.2 Key Financial Performance Indicators .................................................................................................................10
2.2.1 Revenue and Operating Profit .........................................................................................................................10
2.2.2 Asset and Liabilities .........................................................................................................................................11
2.2.3 Operational Efficiency ......................................................................................................................................12
2.2.4 Solvency ..........................................................................................................................................................13
2.3 Key Competitors ...................................................................................................................................................14
3 SWOT Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 15
3.1 SWOT Analysis - Overview ..................................................................................................................................15
3.2 Strengths ..............................................................................................................................................................15
3.3 Weaknesses .........................................................................................................................................................15
3.4 Opportunities ........................................................................................................................................................16
3.5 Threats .................................................................................................................................................................16
4 History .................................................................................................................................................... 17
5 Key Employees ...................................................................................................................................... 18
6 Key Employee Biographies................................................................................................................... 19
7 Locations and Subsidiaries .................................................................................................................. 20
7.1 Head Office ..........................................................................................................................................................20
7.2 Other Locations and Subsidiaries ........................................................................................................................20
8 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 22
8.1 Methodology .........................................................................................................................................................22
8.2 Ratio Definitions ...................................................................................................................................................22
8.3 Disclaimer.............................................................................................................................................................26
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List of Tables
Table 1: Major Products and Services....................................................................................................................................6
Table 2: Key Ratios - Annual ..................................................................................................................................................7
Table 3: Key Ratios - Interim ..................................................................................................................................................9
Table 4: Key Capital Market Indicators ..................................................................................................................................9
Table 5: History.....................................................................................................................................................................17
Table 6: Key Employees .......................................................................................................................................................18
Table 7: Key Employee Biographies ....................................................................................................................................19
Table 8: Subsidiaries ............................................................................................................................................................20
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Revenue and Operating Profit ...............................................................................................................................10
Figure 2: Financial Position ..................................................................................................................................................11
Figure 3: Operational Efficiency ...........................................................................................................................................12
Figure 4: Solvency ................................................................................................................................................................13
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1 Business Analysis
1.1 Company Overview
DS Smith Plc (DS Smith) manufactures and sells paper and corrugated packaging, and plastic packaging products, and
wholesale of office products. The company is also involved in collecting and processing the waste papers into recycled
papers. It supplies returnable transit packaging items including reusable containers, boxes and pallet systems, extruded
sheet, and bottle crates. In addition, the company provides various services such as waste management, logistics
services, and atmosphere packaging services. DS Smith along with its subsidiaries principally operates in England,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Israel, the US, and New Zealand and Ukraine. DS Smith is
headquartered in London, the UK.
1.2 Business Description
DS Smith Plc (DS Smith) is a leading supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods and the wholesaling of office
products. Along with its subsidiaries, it produces corrugated and plastic packaging products, and recycled paper from
recycled waste. The company operates its business under two reportable business segments, Packaging and Office
Products Wholesaling.
The company’s Packaging segment is further classified into three segments UK Packaging, Continental European
Corrugated Packaging, and Plastic Packaging. During the FY2011, the UK Packaging segment contributed 71.10% of the
company’s total revenues.
The company’s UK Packaging segment operates through its subsidiaries Severnside Recycling, St Regis and DS Smith
Packaging. Severnside Recycling collects waste paper and other waste materials for recycling. Its main waste paper
sources include supermarkets, commercial and industrial constitutions local authorities and other retailers. The company
collects 1.8 million tons of old corrugated containers and other used paper per year. St Regis is involved in processing of
waste paper into recycled paper mainly corrugated case material (CCM). DS Smith Packaging converts CCM into
corrugated boards and boxes.
The company’s Continental European Corrugated segment is into heavy-duty and litho-laminated packaging business. It
operates corrugated packaging and manufacturing businesses in six countries. The company also produces specialty
recycled paper in France and 28 corrugated packaging factories, 4 paper mills and 15 recycling depots globally. During
the FY2011, the Continental European Corrugated segment contributed 34.1% towards the segment’s total revenues.
The company’s Plastic Packaging sub-segment is engaged in production of injection-molded crates and semi-finished
extruded sheet, bag-in-box systems, reusable containers, boxes and pallet systems. It is principally focused on the
Industrial returnable transit packaging, and Liquid packaging and dispensing systems. The company supplies its
returnable transit packaging products in the pharmaceutical, automotive, beverage and other markets while its liquid
packaging and dispensing products are supplied to soft drinks, food and wine industries. During the FY2011, the Plastic
Packaging segment contributed 13.8% towards the segment’s total revenues.
The company’s Office Products Wholesaling segment operates through its subsidiary Spicers offering a product range of
about 22,000 product lines that comprises of office furniture, stationery items, electronic office supplies, janitorial supplies,
office catering, and vending provisions of 5-Star brand and other branded products. This segment operates about 21
distribution centers strategically located in the UK, France, Ireland, Benelux, Spain, Italy and Germany. During the
FY2011, the Office products wholesale segment contributed 28.9% towards the company’s total revenues.
The company operates through 20 subsidiary companies, some of these subsidiaries include DS Smith Paper Limited, DS
Smith Logistics Limited, DS Smith Packaging Limited, DS Smith Kaysersberg S.A.S., DS Smith Polska S.A., DS Smith
Plastics Limited, David S. Smith America Inc., Rapak Asia Pacific Limited, Spicers (Ireland) Limited, Spicers France
S.A.S, among others.
Geographically, the company classified its operations into four regions, the UK, France, Rest of Western Continental
Europe, Eastern Continental Europe and the Rest of the World. During the FY2011, the company generated 51.2% of its
total revenues from the UK, followed by 27.9% from France, 13.3% from Rest of Western Continental Europe, 4.5% from
Eastern continental Europe and 3.2% from Rest of World.
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1.3 Major Products and Services
DS Smith Plc (DS Smith) is engaged in manufacturing and selling paper and corrugated packaging, and plastic packaging
products, and wholesale of office products. The company’s key