Packaging company MeadWestvaco Corp. said its sales improved in the fourth quarter of 2010, helping the Richmond-based company post stronger earnings from continuing operations. Profit was down, including results from two business units that the company has sold.
MeadWestvaco said its revenue rose 3 percent to almost $1.5 billion in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, driven by stronger sales in its packaging resources and specialty chemicals businesses.
The company reported profit from continuing operations of $68 million, or 40 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to profit of $53 million, or 30 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2009. Including discontinued operations, the company's profit was down to $47 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $51 million or 29 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Those results include the company's media and entertainment packaging business, which it sold on September 30, 2010, and its envelope products business, which the company has sold in a deal announced in November and expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.
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