Amcor (ASX: AMC) has released its first half results for the six months ending 31 December 2021, revealing an adjusted EBIT of $769 million, up five per cent from the same time last year.

Its net sales income was $6.927 Billion, up 12 per cent from December 2020 and logged a GAAP net income of $427 million, up three per cent from the prior year.

Within the flexibles segment, its first half net sales grew 10 per cent on a reported basis, which includes price increases of approximately $480 million (representing 10 per cent growth) related to the pass through of higher raw material costs, an unfavourable impact of one per cent related to items affecting comparability and an unfavourable currency impact of less than one per cent.

As for the rigid packaging segment, first half net sales grew by 17 per cent on a reported basis, with 13 per cent driven by price increases of approximately $170 million related to the pass through of higher raw material costs.

Amcor CEO Ron Delia said, “Amcor delivered a solid first half result as our teams continue to successfully navigate a persistently challenging and dynamic operating environment.

“Across the business we continued to prioritise our customers and our scale and operational agility enabled us to service demand in key segments, driving growth and sales mix improvements. At the same time, we implemented a broad range of actions to recover higher input costs and manage through general inflation.

“As a result, sales grew 12 per cent and we delivered nine per cent adjusted EPS growth year to date. We remain confident in the outlook for fiscal year 2022, enabling us to reaffirm guidance and increase cash returns to shareholders.

“While the external environment will continue to evolve, we remain focused on executing our strategy for long-term value creation from the strong foundation established over the last several years. The Amcor investment case has never been stronger and we are increasing investments in premium segments like healthcare and protein, in emerging markets and in our innovation capabilities to drive growth and margin expansion.

“We also continue to advance our sustainability agenda and recently announced a commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, raising our own environmental aspirations and supporting our customers as they strive to achieve their own goals.”

This commitment has been recognised by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and builds on the success of Amcor’s EnviroAction program. Since the program started in 2008, Amcor has already reduced GHG emissions intensity by 35 per cent and is on track to deliver a cumulative 60 per cent reduction by 2030.

In addition to carbon-related objectives, Amcor maintains robust targets for reducing water and waste-to-disposal. Currently, 74 per cent of Amcor’s products by weight are now designed to be fully recyclable.

In its continuing efforts to discover and develop innovative technologies for the packaging industry, Amcor (has also announced its strategic investment in PragmatIC Semiconductor, an ultra-low-cost electronics company.

Based in the UK, PragmatIC Semiconductor develops flexible, integrated circuits beyond the scope of conventional electronics. Its ConnectIC family of radio frequency identification and near-field communications (RFID/NFC) integrated chips can be embedded into packaging to store and relay information to devices such as smartphones.

This technology will enable smart packaging applications across the entire product lifecycle – from manufacturing and supply chain management to consumer engagement and even material recovery.

Amcor’s US$5 million investment was part of the Series C funding round of more than US$90 million for PragmatIC Semiconductor. This investment follows the recent investment by Amcor Corporate Venturing in ePac in April 2021.

Amcor also repurchased 24.6 million shares (1.6 per cent of outstanding shares) during the six months ending December 31, 2021 for a total cost of $295 million.