NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 19, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Crown Holdings Inc.'s (BB-/Stable/B-1) announcement that its first-quarter earnings improved about 19% year-over-year does not affect the ratings or outlook on the company. The company reported earnings before interest and taxes of $111 million for the first quarter of 2005, compared with earnings of $93 million for the comparable period in 2004. The earnings improvement reflected volume growth in global beverage cans, improved operating efficiencies, pass through of significantly higher raw-material costs to customers, and stronger foreign currencies. Crown Holdings is aggressively leveraged, and expected free cash generation of at least $200 million in 2005 should support debt reduction, enabling the company to improve credit
