Container glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. said it expects earnings for the 4Q 2004 to range from USD 0.21 a share to USD 0.23 a share, according to a registration statement filed 1 December 200…
Container glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. said it expects earnings for the 4Q 2004 to range from USD 0.21 a share to USD 0.23 a share, according to a registration statement filed 1 December 2004 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earnings for the 4Q of 2003 were USD 0.04 cents a share, excluding charges. In addition, the company said it currently expects strong free cash flow generation from its operations and from 4Q 2004 transactions, specifically, cash provided by the sale of its blow-molded plastics container operations, the sale of its 20% equity interest in South African Consol Limited, and a special dividend from the recent recapitalization of its equity interests in several specialty glass companies in Italy. As a result of these cash generation activities, Owens-Illinois expects total debt to be roughly USD 5.3 billion at 31 December 2004, the filing said. Separately, the company registered 25 million shares of its common stock on behalf of the holders, private equity house KKR Associates L.P. Owens-Illinois said it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares by KKR. Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co. were listed as underwriters. The holders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 3.75 million common shares to cover overallotments, the filing said.