Smurfit Westrock has swung back to profit in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 but has cut its full‑year guidance, citing planned downtime.

The paper‑based packaging group reported a net income of $245m for the quarter ended 30 September 2025, a reversal from a $150m loss in the same period a year earlier.

Quarterly net sales were $8bn, up from $7.67bn in Q3 2024.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $1.13bn, versus $320m a year ago. Adjusted free cash flow for the three months to September stood at $579m, compared with $118m in Q3 2024.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased to $1.3bn in the quarter, delivering a 16.3% margin, marginally lower than the 16.5% margin in Q3 2024.

Smurfit Westrock president and CEO Tony Smurfit stated: “I am pleased to report that for the third quarter, we delivered in-line with our adjusted EBITDA guidance. This performance was driven by the continued operational and commercial improvements in our North American business and our strong positions in EMEA [Europe and the Middle East], APAC [Asia Pacific] and Latin America.”

The North America business posted a 17.2% adjusted EBITDA margin with Latin America at 21.3%, and EMEA and APAC at 14.8%.

However, the company cut its full‑year adjusted EBITDA forecast to a range of $4.9bn to $5.1bn, down from a range of $5bn to $5.2bn.

Smurfit Westrock president and CEO Tony Smurfit stated: “The year to date has been characterised by a challenging demand backdrop and as a result we expect to take additional economic downtime in the fourth quarter to optimise our system.”

For 2026, the company projects capital expenditure of $2.4bn to $2.5bn.

“This level of spend allows us to continue optimising our asset base, accelerating cost take-out and capitalising high-growth areas,” added Smurfit.

The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per ordinary share, payable on 18 December 2025.