MeadWestvaco 2nd-quarter profit jumps 75 percent

RICHMOND, Va.—Packaging and specialty chemicals maker MeadWestvaco Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter profit jumped 75 percent as stronger emerging markets sales helped offset "unprecedented input cost inflation."

For the three months ended June 30, net income rose to $56 million, or 33 cents per share, from $32 million, or 17 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of 19 cents.

On a continuing operations basis, income was $58 million, or 34 cents per share, including after-tax restructuring charges of 3 cents per share and a gain of 5 cents per share from a real estate sale.

Revenue from continuing operations climbed 8 percent to $1.71 billion from $1.58 billion, beating analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. MeadWestvaco credited stronger sales to price increases, growth in its global packaging businesses and sales in emerging markets, which jumped 19 percent.

Pretax costs for energy, raw materials and freight increased $64 million in the second quarter from the year-ago period.