UPDATE: Ball Q1 Net Profit Down 3.3%

Ball Corp

reported a 3.3% decline in its first-quarter earnings. Ball's quarterly profit fell to $88.3 million, from $91.3 million in the year-ago period. On a per-share basis, Ball's earnings climbed to $0.55 per share from $0.53 per share. Its earnings from continuing operations gained to $0.55 per share from $0.54 per share. Its sales climbed 1.6% to $2.04 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.59 per share on revenue of $2.04 billion. Ball's operating margin declined to 8.9% from 9.6%. Ball shares closed at $43.00 yesterday.