1




                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                               Washington, D. C.
                                     20549

                                    FORM 8-K

               CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) of

                      THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                         Date of Report:  August 5, 1996




                                ---------------


                            SONOCO PRODUCTS COMPANY


                                                                  
Incorporated under the laws        Commission File No. 1-11261          I.R.S. Employer Identification
    of South Carolina                                                           No. 57-0248420



Post Office Box 160 Hartsville, South Carolina 29551-0160 Telephone: 803-383-7000 2 SONOCO PRODUCTS COMPANY FORM 8-K ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS Effective the second quarter of 1996, Sonoco Products Company (the "Company") changed its segment reporting methods in an effort to facilitate investors' understanding of the Company's financial performance and to better align its reporting with how management views the business internally. Under the new segment reporting format, the Company will report its operations as Industrial Packaging and Consumer Packaging. The Industrial Packaging segment includes: tubes, cores, cones, roll wrap, molded plugs and related products and services (the Company's global Industrial Products Division); fibre drums, plastic drums and intermediate bulk containers (the Industrial Container Division); molded and extrusion plastics (Sonoco Crellin); paper manufacturing and recovered paper collections (the Paper Division); fibre partitions; molded pulp and Sonopost(R) corner posts (the Protective Packaging Division); reels for wire and cable (Sonoco Baker); adhesives; machinery manufacturing; and forest products. The Consumer Packaging segment includes: composite cans, fibre and plastic caulk cartridges (the Consumer Products Division); capseals; plastic tennis ball containers; flexible packaging (Flexible Packaging Division); plastic bags (the High Density Film Products Division) and pressure-sensitive labels, screen printing, paperboard packaging and label machinery (Sonoco Engraph). The Company's previous reporting format included segments called Converted Products, Paper and International. For the convenience of the financial community, quarterly segmental reporting for 1994, 1995 and the first quarter of 1996 have been restated and are presented below in the new segment reporting format. 3 FINANCIAL SEGMENT INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (Dollars in thousands) 1996
First Second Six Months Ended Quarter Quarter June 30, 1996 --------- --------- ---------------- Total Revenue Industrial Packaging $384,515 $402,080 $ 786,595 Consumer Packaging 295,511 298,363 593,874 -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $680,026 $700,443 $1,380,469 ======== ======== ========== Sales to Unaffiliated Customers Industrial Packaging $374,170 $391,948 $ 766,118 Consumer Packaging 295,061 297,907 592,968 -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $669,231 $689,855 $1,359,086 ======== ======== ========== Operating Profit Industrial Packaging $ 51,775 $ 55,736 $ 107,511 Consumer Packaging 30,787 33,724 64,511 Interest, net (10,358) (11,922) (22,280) -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $ 72,204 $ 77,538 $ 149,742 ======== ======== ==========
4 FINANCIAL SEGMENT INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (Dollars in thousands) 1995
First Second Third Fourth Quarter Quarter Quarter Quarter Total --------- --------- --------- --------- ----------- Total Revenue Industrial Packaging $391,920 $429,243 $416,591 $389,623 $1,627,377 Consumer Packaging 264,601 276,236 283,003 303,490 1,127,330 -------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $656,521 $705,479 $699,594 $693,113 $2,754,707 ======== ======== ======== ======== ========== Sales to Unaffiliated Customers Industrial Packaging $380,996 $416,187 $404,262 $379,069 $1,580,514 Consumer Packaging 264,146 275,539 282,736 303,238 1,125,659 -------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $645,142 $691,726 $686,998 $682,307 $2,706,173 ======== ======== ======== ======== ========== Operating Profit Industrial Packaging $ 45,339 $ 53,782 $ 50,462 $ 46,347 $ 195,930 Consumer Packaging 24,970 26,698 27,109 35,183 113,960 Interest, net (9,28l) (9,366) (10,419) (10,034) (39,100) -------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $ 61,028 $ 71,114 $ 67,152 $ 71,496 $ 270,790 ======== ======== ======== ======== ==========
5 FINANCIAL SEGMENT INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (Dollars in thousands) 1994
First Second Third Fourth Quarter Quarter Quarter Quarter Total --------- --------- --------- --------- ----------- Total Revenue Industrial Packaging $321,752 $340,071 $355,371 $362,016 $1,379,210 Consumer Packaging 224,648 233,016 245,739 255,663 959,066 -------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $546,400 $573,087 $601,110 $617,679 $2,338,276 ======== ======== ======== ======== ========== Sales to Unaffiliated Customers Industrial Packaging $313,663 $331,903 $346,018 $352,291 $1,343,875 Consumer Packaging 223,709 232,488 245,160 254,895 956,252 -------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $537,372 $564,391 $591,178 $607,186 $2,300,127 ======== ======== ======== ======== ========== Operating Profit Industrial Packaging $ 32,313 $ 36,627 $ 35,716 $ 38,257 $ 142,913 Consumer Packaging 22,010 25,283 25,740 28,449 101,482 Interest, net (8,331) (8,322) (8,897) (7,915) (33,465) -------- -------- -------- -------- ---------- Consolidated $ 45,992 $ 53,588 $ 52,559 $ 58,791 $ 210,930 ======== ======== ======== ======== ==========
6 SONOCO PRODUCTS COMPANY FORM 8-K SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. SONOCO PRODUCTS COMPANY ----------------------------- (Registrant) Date: August 5, 1996 By: /s/ F. T. Hill, Jr. ------------------ --------------------------- F. T. Hill, Jr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer