Bemis Company, Inc.


Neenah, Wisconsin, USA, 01  March 2010 -- Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE: BMS) announced today that, including the effect of today's acquisition of Alcan Packaging Food Americas and excluding special items explained below, it expects full year 2010 adjusted diluted earnings to be in the range of USD 1.95 to USD 2.10 per share.

"This is going to be a year of transition and integration for our newly acquired operations," said Henry Theisen, president and chief executive officer of Bemis Company, Inc. "Our attention is focused on maintaining the positive momentum of our current Bemis business while seamlessly integrating and supporting our new facilities. Guidance for 2010 represents healthy operating performance and realization of synergies expected from the Alcan Packaging Food Americas acquisition."

Under the terms of an order signed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia related to today's acquisition, two of the acquired facilities must be divested. The 2009 net sales associated with the facilities to be sold was approximately USD 100 million.  The results of these operations will be reported as discontinued operations in 2010 and have been excluded from management's guidance.

Adjusted annual guidance excludes the effect of acquisition financing costs for the first two months of 2010 before the acquisition was completed, which the company estimates to be approximately USD 0.06 per share. Guidance also does not reflect severance charges, acquisition related professional and legal fees, or one-time purchase accounting charges. These amounts are not reflected in the guidance because they are not currently quantifiable.

Guidance for 2010 includes an estimated USD 22 million in net cost savings synergies, representing a pro rata portion of the total anticipated first 12 months synergies. Adjusted for the anticipated divestiture of the two plants, Bemis expects approximately USD 60 million of annual run-rate pre-tax synergies to be achieved by the end of the second year following the acquisition date. These improvements will be achieved primarily by optimizing product mix, improving operational and supply chain efficiencies, and reducing duplicate administrative costs. 

Bemis Company is a major supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials used by leading food, consumer products, healthcare, and other companies worldwide. Founded in 1858, the company is included in the S&P 500 index of stocks and reported 2009 net sales of USD 3.5 billion. The company's flexible packaging business has a strong technical base in polymer chemistry, film extrusion, coating and laminating, printing, and converting. Headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, Bemis employs more than 20,000 individuals in 84 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries around the world. More information about the company is available at www.bemis.com.