Avery Dennison Corp. recently announced preliminary, unaudited results for its second quarter ended June 29, 2019. Net sales for Avery Dennison declined 3.2% to $1.8 billion in the 2019 second quarter.

In the Label and Graphic Materials segment, reported sales declined 4.1%; on an organic basis, sales grew 0.9%, as prior-year pricing actions more than offset a modest decline in volume. On an organic basis, sales in high-value categories increased at a mid-single-digit rate across the segment, were flat in Label and Packaging Materials, and were up low-single-digits in the combined Graphics and Reflective Solutions businesses.

Reported sales increased 0.4% for the Retail Branding and Information Solutions segment in the second quarter of 2019. On an organic basis, sales grew 4.4%, driven primarily by continued strength in sales of radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions, which increased more than 20%.

The Industrial and Healthcare Materials segment saw reported sales decline 5% for the quarter. On an organic basis, sales declined 0.1%, as a low-single-digit decline in industrial categories was largely offset by a mid-single-digit increase in healthcare categories.

“Our Q2 earnings were in line with our expectations, as we more than offset softer-than-expected organic growth with accelerated productivity actions,” said Mitch Butier, president and CEO. “High value categories continue to grow faster than the base business, which, combined with our relentless focus on productivity, enable margin expansion even in a slower growth environment.

“Organic growth in Label and Graphic Materials remained soft reflecting lower volume, while profitability was strong. Retail Branding and Information Solutions delivered solid organic growth, driven by continued strength in RFID, with significant margin expansion. Likewise, IHM continued to deliver strong margin improvement, despite flat organic growth.

“We are reaffirming the midpoint of our previous guidance for 2019 earnings per share, with organic growth improving modestly over the balance of the year, along with continued margin expansion. Once again, our ongoing confidence in our ability to achieve our guidance and long-term targets reflects the resilience of our business and ability of our team to adapt to changing market conditions.”

Additional details are available at www.averydennison.com.