Cardboard box maker Smurfit Kappa has reported a 25pc increase in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2018 to €1.5bn, from €1.2bn in 2017.

The EBITDA margin was 17.3pc.

On the back of the performance, the company has proposed a final dividend increase of 12pc to 72.2 cent per share.

The group reported revenue growth of 4pc to €8.9bn, with an underlying increase of over 7pc, according to final results for 2018 from the company.

Tony Smurfit, group CEO, said:

“Our 2018 performance demonstrates the group’s transformation of recent years, which is delivering progressively superior returns.”

“The group delivered on or exceeded its key measures. This reflects our market-leading positions, our innovation capability and investment decisions,” he added.

Smurfit had strong free cash flow of €494m, an increase of 61pc, while it reported a return on capital employed of 19.3pc.

In Europe, the company said its business performed very strongly in 2018, with underlying revenue growth of 7pc. This was driven by a combination of demand growth, input cost recovery and the benefits of its investment programme, the company said.

The Americas region had underlying revenue growth of 8pc.

Elsewhere, the group has initiated international arbitration proceedings to protect the interests of its stakeholders and seek compensation from the government of Venezuela.

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