DS Smith sees lockdown-fuelled spike in demand for boxes, profit rises

However, DS Smith said it was too early to resume dividends in the short-term due to market uncertainty caused by the pandemic, which wiped out 15 million pounds off its profit in the last two months of the financial year due to lean box volumes and weakness in the industrial sector. The company, which operates in 37 countries, supplies packaging products to the world's biggest packaged food companies Nestle and Unilever as well as e-commerce giant Amazon , among others.

Cardboard maker DS Smith on Thursday reported a 5% rise in annual profit and said supply of its boxes to e-commerce customers spiked as the corornavirus-induced lockdown brought in more online shoppers.

The British company, which makes cardboard boxes and recycled paper, reported an adjusted operating profit of 660 million pounds, up from 631 million pounds last year. However, DS Smith said it was too early to resume dividends in the short-term due to market uncertainty caused by the pandemic, which wiped out 15 million pounds off its profit in the last two months of the financial year due to lean box volumes and weakness in the industrial sector.

The company, which operates in 37 countries, supplies packaging products to the world's biggest packaged food companies Nestle and Unilever as well as e-commerce giant Amazon , among others. "In the medium-term, the growth drivers of e-commerce and sustainability are as strong as ever," Chief Executive Miles Roberts said, adding that the COVID-19 crisis is also expected to accelerate a number of the structural drivers for corrugated packaging.

During the initial months of the pandemic, the London-based company said it saw a rise in supplies in ambient food, drinks, hygiene, frozen food and dry packaged grocery categories as people stocked up food due to the lockdown, while the e-commerce sector also got a boost from essential products.