Amcor says Q1 in line with its expectations

MELBOURNE, Oct 22 - Australian packaging group Amcor Ltd <AMC.AX> traded in line with its expectations in the first quarter, the company said on Thursday, though it warned investors about the growing impact of volatile exchange rates.

"Trading during the first quarter was consistent with expectations outlined at the full-year results in August," Managing Director Ken MacKenzie told Amcor's annual meeting.

The company has never given a profit outlook for this year, but analysts expect profit to rise 20 percent to A$432 million ($400 million) for the year to June 2010, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, boosted by a half-year contribution from its $2 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto's <RIO.AX> Alcan packaging unit.

Amcor said the acquisition would only raise the group's sensitivity to exchange rates, estimating that a one cent move in the Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar would result in a A$3 million change in the group's profit after tax.

"The full-year impact to profit will depend on the exchange rate for these currencies over the next nine months as well as the exact timing of the closing of the Alcan Packaging acquisition," MacKenzie said.

Amcor's shares were up 1.6 percent at A$5.73 at 0040 GMT, about 30 percent above the price investors paid for shares in the group's A$1.6 billion equity raising in August.