Sonoco says overall economic indicators are ‘positives’ for its business
(Editor’s note: For several days, The State will profile a South Carolinian or an S.C. company affected by the volatility in the stock markets. Today, we look at a publicly traded company).
Roger Schrum
Vice president of investor relations and corporate affairs, Sonoco Products Company
Hartsville
Like most U.S. publicly traded companies, South Carolina’s second-largest publicly traded company has taken a hit from this week’s stock market volatility.
“It has negatively impacted our shares, although somewhat less than the overall market,” said Roger Schrum, vice president of investor relations and corporate affairs for Sonoco Products Company.
As a 116-year-old company, Sonoco has weathered market volatility before — both the Great Recession and the Great Depression — and expects to hold strong again. With a market cap of $4.1 billion, Hartsville-based Sonoco is a global provider of packaging products and services for industrial and consumer businesses.
“Sonoco serves packaged food markets, which tend to do well in both good times and bad,” Schrum said. “We feel very positive about the fundamentals of our business and the markets we serve. … Currently, our dividend provides shareholders with a 3.5 percent yield.”
What Sonoco and other publicly traded companies are experiencing right now is a reaction to global economic facts, which is creating a domino effect on other markets around the world, according to Schrum.
“The market seems to forget that, in the U.S., you have an improving job market, lower gas prices, an uptick in the housing market, historically low interest rates and many U.S. companies are in very strong financial shape — all of these indicators should be positives for our customers and thus, good for our business respectively,” Shrum said. “Current market volatility is a reminder that we are living and working in a global economy where everything is connected on some level. … What happens in the future is anyone’s guess. All we can do is concentrate on running our business, serving our customers and continuing to make decisions that provide value to our shareholders.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 11:42 AM with the headline "Sonoco says overall economic indicators are ‘positives’ for its business."