Australia's Orora tumbles after flagging Iran war impact on French unit

Orora

09/04/2026 03:06

April 9 (Reuters) - Australian packaging company Orora ORA.AX trimmed its annual earnings forecast for French unit Saverglass and cancelled its share buyback programme, citing the impact of the Middle East war, sending its shares tumbling to an 11-year low on Thursday.

Shares of the glass bottles maker dropped as much as 18.5% to A$1.61, their lowest level since late October 2014. The stock was among the top laggards on the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index .AXJO, which was down 0.2%, as of 0001 GMT.

With the Middle East shipping routes closed due to the Iran war, the company has decided to pause production at its Ras al Khaimah (RAK) glass-making facility in the United Arab Emirates while keeping the furnace warm. The facility accounts for 15% of Saverglass' production capacity.

"Production of these bottles will now shift to Mexico, with moulds to be transported to the Acatlán facility to facilitate production from late FY26," the company said in a statement.

Orora now expects Saverglass' reported earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to fall to 52 million euros-59 million euros ($60.62 million-$68.78 million) in fiscal 2026.

The aluminium cans maker flagged an impact of 9 million euros to 11 million euros on its EBIT in the second half of fiscal 2026, from costs primarily related to energy and staffing due to the production pause.

Excluding the above impact, Orora estimated Saverglass' annual underlying EBIT to be between 63 million euros and 68 million euros. Earlier, the company was expecting it to come broadly in line with fiscal 2025 EBIT of 79.2 million euros.

Saverglass accounted for around half of Orora's operating earnings in fiscal 2025, according to its annual report.

The company has also observed a combination of slower offtake in spirits and a mix shift towards low-cost and -margin spirits products since the start of the Middle East conflict.

Orora said it would pause its A$270 million on-market share buyback programme announced during the first-half results in February.

($1 = 0.8579 euros)

 (Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

 ((Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com;))