Owens-Illinois profits down to $141 million in 2nd quarter

Owens-Illinois Inc., the Toledo area's largest company, Wednesday reported that its second quarter profit fell to $141 million, or 85 cents a share, on sales of $1.7 billion.

The glass bottle-manufacturing giant, with headquarters in Perrysburg, said its profits were a 5 percent decrease from the same period a year ago. O-I for the period last year had a profit of $149 million, or 88 cents a share, on revenues of $1.8 billion

The company attributed most of the decline in profits to one-time charges of $7.9 million for restructuring and impairment of some assets. It said it did not consider the charges representative of its ongoing operations.

The drop in revenues, it said, stemmed from unfavorable values of foreign currency, including a weaker Euro and a devalued exchange rate from its operations in Venezuela. The company reported stronger glass bottle demand in South America and China, but not so much in North America and Europe.

Overall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Al Stroucken said O-I was able to expand its presence in the fast-growing Asian markets by the acquisition of a plant in China and through its new Southeast Asia joint venture operations in Malaysia and Vietnam.