Silgan Holdings Inc is a North American manufacturer of metal and plastic consumer goods packaging products. The Company's products, which are used for a wide variety of end markets, are made at the Company's 59 manufacturing plants throughout North America

http://www.silgan.com
4 Landmark Square Stamford, CT 06901
Phone: (203) 975-7110 Fax: (203) 975-7150

Silgan Holdings Announces Record Earnings for 2005; Completes $300 Million Debt Reduction Initiative Ahead of Schedule 
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2006--Silgan Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:SLGN), a leading supplier of consumer goods packaging products, today reported full year 2005 net income of $87.6 million, or $2.33 per diluted share, as compared to full year 2004 net income of $84.2 million, or $2.26 per diluted share. Results for 2005 include a non-cash, pre-tax charge of $11.2 million, or $0.18 per diluted share net of tax, for the loss on early extinguishment of debt as compared to $1.6 million, or $0.03 per diluted share net of tax, in 2004.

The Company also announced that it exceeded the high end of its three-year debt reduction target one full year ahead of schedule. Strong cash flows from operations enabled the Company to pay down $141 million of debt during 2005, amounting to a cumulative two-year debt reduction total of $302 million. As a result, the Company had outstanding debt at the end of 2005 of $700.4 million.

"As reflected in our financial performance, 2005 was another successful year for Silgan," said Greg Horrigan, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO. "The strength of our management teams was once again highlighted, as we successfully navigated through a volatile raw material and energy cost environment and a difficult hurricane season which created challenges in resin supply late in the year," continued Mr. Horrigan. "On the quality of our operational performance, we achieved our three-year goal of $300 million debt reduction in just two years and demonstrated the strong cash flow generation of our franchises," concluded Mr. Horrigan.

    Highlights of the Company's performance in 2005 include:

    --  Record sales of $2.5 billion and record income from operations
        and earnings per diluted share.

    --  Paying down $141 million of debt, thereby achieving three-year
        debt reduction goal of $300 million in two years.

    --  Refinancing the bank credit facility, taking advantage of
        attractive credit markets and positioning the Company for
        growth.

    --  Successfully managing a difficult raw material and energy cost
        environment.

    Full Year

Net sales for the full year 2005 were a record $2.5 billion, an increase of $75.1 million, or 3.1 percent, as compared to $2.4 billion in 2004. This increase was largely the result of higher average selling prices in both the metal food and plastic container businesses, principally due to price increases in response to higher raw material costs and growth in unit volumes in the closures product line, partially offset by volume declines in the metal food can and plastic container businesses.

Income from operations for 2005 was $209.0 million, an increase of $9.4 million as compared to $199.6 million for 2004, and operating margin increased to 8.4% from 8.2% for the same periods. The favorable year-over-year comparisons of income from operations and operating margin benefited from productivity improvements as well as continued benefits from rationalization and integration of manufacturing facilities. Selling, general and administrative costs increased in 2005 as compared to 2004 due in part to a pre-tax benefit in 2004 of $3.0 million resulting from a litigation settlement reached with an equipment supplier and additional tax and audit professional fees in 2005 included in corporate expense.

Interest and other debt expense before loss on early extinguishment of debt for the full year 2005 was $49.4 million, a decrease of $6.2 million as compared to 2004. This decrease was primarily due to lower average borrowings as a result of the Company's debt reduction initiative and lower interest rate spreads from the June 2005 bank debt refinancing, partially offset by a higher average cost of borrowings resulting from rising interest rates. In addition, the Company incurred a pre-tax charge of $11.2 million to write off unamortized debt issuance costs resulting from the June 2005 bank debt refinancing and the pre-payment of debt in the fourth quarter of 2005. The Company also incurred a pre-tax charge of $1.6 million for the write off of unamortized debt issuance costs in 2004 as a result of the debt reduction initiative.