STATE OF THE INDUSTRY ON THE OFFENSIVE

Earnings results for industry leaders have been mixed, but optimistic. Bemis determined its net sales of $437 million were down 1.6 percent from 2000, but operating profit as a percentage of net sales jumped from 14.2 percent in 2000 to 15.8 percent for last year. Pliant reaped the benefits of a 12 percent increase in sales volume in the third quarter of 2001. Net sales for that quarter therefore hit $220.4 million, a 4.5 percent increase over the previous year. Pactiv's fourth-quarter earnings were down 6 percent, while Sealed Air Corporation saw its food packaging segment's net sales increase 5 percent in the 2001 year.