UPDATE: MeadWestvaco Beats Q4 Views

reported upbeat earnings for the fourth quarter. The Richmond, Virginia-based company posted quarterly income from continuing operations of $53 million, or $0.31 per share, compared to $209 million or $1.16 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings rose to $0.46 per share from $0.29 per share. Its revenue gained 4.9% to $1.37 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.45 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion. In the Food & Beverage segment, the company's sales rose 2% to $765 million in the quarter, while sales in the Home, Health & Beauty segment surged 5% to $191 million. In the Industrial segment, sales slipped 5% to $139 million in the quarter, while sales in the Specialty Chemicals segment gained 3% to $241 million. Sales for the Community Development and Land Management segment jumped to $45 million in the quarter from $6 million in the year-ago quarter. Its cash flow from continuing operations was $298 million in the quarter, versus $194 million in the year-ago quarter. For the year, MeadWestvaco posted a profit of $263 million, on revenue of $5.63 billion. “MWV's revenue and earnings growth this quarter was the result of momentum we generated throughout a very good year of performance in 2014,” said John A. Luke, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, MWV. “Our strong packaging and specialty chemicals results reinforce the benefits of the market-focused strategies we have established in each business. We are confident our packaging and specialty chemicals businesses will continue to be successful and contribute to long-term shareholder value creation as new companies.” Rock-Tenn Company

and MeadWestvaco Corporation also agreed to a $16 billion merger. MeadWestvaco shares slipped 1.57% to close at $45.04 on Friday.