On Tuesday, Ball (NYSE:BALL) discussed second-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.
This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/.
View the webcast at https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=o0yTlxYV
Summary
Ball Corporation reported a 4.3% year-over-year increase in global beverage can volumes for Q2 2026, with comparable operating earnings up 7.7% and diluted EPS rising 14.4%.
The company remains on track with its 2026 framework, aiming for a 10% growth in comparable diluted EPS and returning approximately $800 million to shareholders.
Strategic initiatives include expanding EMEA capacity through the integration of Benipack and progressing with the Millersburg facility, which is expected to be fully operational in 2027.
Ball Corporation highlighted continued strong demand across all regions, with specific growth in South America, while managing operational challenges due to high utilization rates in North America and EMEA.
The company plans to maintain a disciplined capital allocation strategy, focusing on EVA and returning capital to shareholders, with $600 million in share repurchases anticipated for 2026.
Full Transcript
OPERATOR
Greetings and welcome to the Ball Corporation second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press Star 0 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Brandon Potoff, Head of Investor Relations.
Thank you, sir. You may begin.
Brandon Potoff, Head of Investor Relations
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. This is Ball Corporation's conference call regarding the company's second quarter 2026 results. During this call we will reference our second quarter 2026 earnings presentation available through this webcast and on our website at investors.ball.com. The information provided during this call will contain forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied.
We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made today. Some factors that could cause the results or outcomes to differ are described in the company's latest Form 10-K, other SEC filings, and in today's earnings release and earnings presentation. If you do not already have our earnings release, it is available on our website at ball.com. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may also be found in the notes section of today's earnings release.
In addition, this presentation and the release include a summary of non-comparable items as well as a reconciliation of comparable net earnings and diluted earnings per share calculations. I would now like to turn the call over to our CEO, Ron Lewis.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Brandon. Today I'm joined by Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I will provide some brief introductory remarks and discuss second quarter and first half 2026 financial performance and our outlook for the remainder of 2026. Dan will touch on key metrics, and then we will finish up with closing comments and a question-and-answer session. As we begin, I want to reinforce the same big-picture message we have discussed in prior quarters because it remains central to how we think about Ball's long-term value creation: the fundamentals supporting our business remain firmly in place.
Packaged liquid volume continues to grow globally, and aluminum cans continue to gain share. As consumers, customers, and retailers prioritize convenience, performance, and sustainability, these trends continue to support a durable runway of demand for our products. Within that growing market, Ball remains well positioned across our regions. We continue to benefit from long-term customer partnerships, a well-contracted portfolio, disciplined capacity management, and an unmatched global footprint.
Together, those advantages support strong utilization and consistent commercial performance. We are pairing those operating advantages with financial discipline. Through the first half of 2026, our results have reinforced our confidence in the framework we laid out for the year. Supported by a healthy balance sheet and a capital allocation approach grounded in EVA, we remain focused on investing where we can earn attractive returns and returning capital to shareholders.
Operationally, our teams continue to make progress. Standardization, cost discipline, and the Ball Business System are helping us reduce complexity, improve productivity, and create a more repeatable operating model as volumes grow. When you bring together attractive industry fundamentals, strong customer relationships, disciplined execution, financial strength, and an operating system built for continuous improvement, Ball remains well positioned to deliver on our 2026 objectives and create long-term value for shareholders.
Our first half results reinforce the resilience of our business and the consistency of our execution. Even as the external environment remains complex, the strategy we have discussed in prior quarters remains clear, consistent, and grounded in four strategic pillars, and our first half performance provides further evidence that it is working. First, we remain focused on executing in our core business. That discipline shows up through service, cost management, and ongoing efforts to improve operational consistency across our plants and regions.
Second, we stay close to our customers and maximize the strength of our global network. Long-term customer partnerships, strong service levels, and a balanced footprint give us the flexibility to respond quickly and reliably. Third, we continue to accelerate the substrate shift to aluminum and expand into targeted categories. Aluminum's sustainability and performance advantages remain compelling, and we are focused on translating these advantages into disciplined growth.
Fourth, we manage complexity to our advantage. Our scale, standardization, and systems help us stay focused on the levers we control and build more repeatable performance over time. The Ball Business System connects these priorities across the organization, helping us standardize best practices, improve productivity, and drive continuous improvement. At the center of that system are our people and culture: low ego, high collaboration, and a shared commitment to doing the right things the right way.
That consistency is what supports our first half performance and gives us confidence in our ability to deliver on our 2026 objectives while continuing to create value long term. That is where the Ball Business System and EVA come together—one helping us to operate with greater consistency, the other guiding how we allocate capital to create long-term value. In the second quarter and first half, that discipline showed up in our financial performance while we continued to focus on delivering operational results in line with our Ball Business System goals.
It is also why our 2026 framework remains unchanged: 10% comparable diluted EPS growth, strong free cash flow, and consistent returns to shareholders. With that context, let me address how those priorities translated into our second quarter and first half results. Turning to our second quarter performance, we continue to build on the solid start we discussed last quarter. Global volumes improved 4.3% year over year with growth in each region, reflecting continued momentum across our portfolio and keeping us on track with the full-year volume outlook we outlined earlier this year.
Comparable operating earnings grew 7.7% year over year, supported by disciplined cost management, commercial performance, and continued progress through the Ball Business System. Even as we absorbed the previously discussed North American startup costs, that performance flowed through to the bottom line with comparable diluted EPS growth of 14.4%, reflecting operating earnings performance and capital allocation. Our first half performance reinforces our confidence in delivering 10% comparable diluted EPS growth for the full year.
We also remain focused on shareholder returns and remain on track to return approximately $800 million to shareholders in 2026. Operationally, we continue to advance our priorities, including integrating Benipack to expand our EMEA capacity and continuing to make progress at our Millersburg facility, which remains on track toward full ramp-up in 2027. Overall, this was a solid second quarter and first half that reinforced the resilience of our business and our confidence in the 2026 framework.
With that context, I'll let Dan walk through the details of our second quarter financial performance and provide more color on our expectations for the balance of 2026. Over to you, Dan.
Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Ron. I'll walk through our second quarter 2026 financial performance and provide additional context on the first half and our expectations for the balance of the year. Overall, the business continued to perform well in the second quarter. Global shipped beverage can volumes increased 4.3% year over year, supported by growth across each region and continued progress against our full-year expectations. Across both the quarter and the first half, our teams remain focused on service, cost discipline, and improving the controllable performance drivers that support our 2026 framework.
As Ron noted, comparable operating earnings increased 7.7% year over year, and comparable diluted EPS increased 14.4%, aided by disciplined performance and capital allocation tailwinds. Our first half performance remains consistent with the financial framework we laid out for 2026. In North and Central America, volumes increased low single digits year over year, consistent with our expectation for full-year growth at the low end of our long-term 1% to 3% range.
Demand remained constructive in energy drinks and the non-alcoholic beverages segment. Comparable operating earnings declined 2.4% year over year as higher costs, including approximately $5 million of startup costs, were partially offset by favorable price/mix, including the timing of metal pass-through to our large customers who procure their own aluminum. We continue to expect full-year startup costs to total approximately $35 million, with roughly $30 million expected in the second half.
In EMEA, volumes increased mid-single digits year over year, supported by underlying demand and the contribution from Benipack, partially offset by last year's sale of our Saudi Arabian business. Comparable operating earnings increased 6.6% year over year, reflecting higher volume and favorable price/mix, partially offset by higher cost. We continue to make progress integrating the Hungary and Belgium facilities. For 2026, with the inclusion of Benipack, we continue to expect volume growth above the top end of our long-term 3% to 5% range.
In South America, volumes increased mid-teens year over year as the region moved past first quarter customer timing and inventory impacts. Comparable operating earnings increased 64% year over year, driven by higher volumes and favorable price/mix. Looking ahead, we continue to expect volume growth at the low end of our long-term 4% to 6% range in 2026. Now focusing on modeling details for 2026. As Ron noted, with the resilience of our business and our pass-through models, we continue to expect to be on track with our long-term 10% plus comparable diluted EPS growth goal.
We anticipate free cash flow of greater than $900 million in 2026. Our 2026 full-year effective tax rate on comparable earnings is expected to be slightly above 23%. Full-year 2026 interest expense is expected to be in the range of $310 million. Capex is expected to be in line with GAAP D&A in 2026. Full-year 2026 reported adjusted corporate undistributed costs recorded in Other Non-Reportable are expected to be in the range of $175 million. We anticipate year-end 2026 net debt to comparable EBITDA to be around 2.7 times, and we will repurchase at least $600 million of shares, which will bring our total capital return to shareholders to $800 million in 2026. And last week, Ball's board declared its quarterly cash dividend, and with that I'll turn it back to Ron.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Dan. In summary, the key message is that we are delivering against the framework we laid out for 2026. Through the first half we grew global volumes, expanded comparable diluted EPS, generated strong earnings performance and remained on track with our free cash flow and capital return priorities. That progress reflects the consistency of our strategy and the discipline of our teams. We continue to stay close to our customers, manage the levers we control, invest through an EBA lens and use the Ball business system to improve how we operate across the company.
Importantly, our first half results reinforce our confidence in the full year framework. We remain focused on delivering 10 plus percent comparable diluted EPS growth, generating strong free cash flow and returning approximately $800 million to shareholders in 2026. We know there is still work ahead and our teams remain focused on the operating and commercial priorities that matter most in the second half. But the first half demonstrates that the strategy is consistent, the framework is intact and Ball remains well positioned to create long term value for shareholders.
Thank you. And with that, Christine, we are ready for questions.
OPERATOR
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press Star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press Star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the Star keys while we poll for questions. Thank you.
Our first question comes from the line of Ghansham Panjabi with Baird. Please proceed with your question.
Ghansham Panjabi, Analyst at Baird
Thank you. Good morning everybody. You know, Ron, I know comparisons are a bit tougher in the Beverage North America and Central America segment given your performance from last year. But sort of looking back, how did the flagship events over the summer, including America 250 and the World Cup, impact your volumes? Was that material in any way or were you supply constrained just given your footprint position at this point?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Hi, Ganchem, nice to hear from you. Thanks for the question. We said coming into the year in North America that we were running notably tight and that certainly is the case. And so we didn't see any really meaningful growth in North America due to America 250 or World Cup. But what it did do coming into this quarter, and quite frankly Q3 that we've just started, it gave us a lot of confidence in the growth that we were going to see and that flowed through.
I mean, we served our customers with distinction and the best of our ability. But the fact of the matter is we are trying to bring this new plant up in Millersburg and until we do that, we will be notably tight until we can get that capacity up and running.
Ghansham Panjabi, Analyst at Baird
Great, thanks for that. And then in Europe, you know, adjusting for Benefact and some of the portfolio moves there and segment realignment, et cetera, what were underlying volumes during the second quarter and was that consistent with your expectations going in for 2Q?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, thanks, Ganchom. Let me answer at a high level and then I'll let Dan do some of the details. But in general, you know our long term growth outlook is 3 to 5% growth. What we've said is with the acquisition of Benefact for the full year we should be exceeding that on an annualized basis. And for sure our organic business was right in line with what our long term growth outlook is. But there is some puts and takes in there with the change in the sector.
So let me let Dan kind of detail that out for you, if you don't mind.
Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, hi, Gantsham. Yeah, I think, you know, really we grew our volumes second quarter a little less than 500 million unit cans compared to last year. The way to think about where it came from was our legacy businesses now in that segment are really the traditional Europe footprint that we've had for a while now and some Asian assets and when you look at it really those delivered mid-single-digit growth for that segment and the puts and takes that kind of neutralized each other was the integration of the Benefact business and that came with some cans but it also was offset by the loss of the Saudi Arabian business as well.
So good, good performance. It was really all done on the assets that we brought into the year and we're overall pleased with where they stand.
Ghansham Panjabi, Analyst at Baird
Perfect. Thank you so much.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Pettinari with Citi. Please proceed with your question.
Anthony Pettinari, Analyst at Citi
Good morning. The detail and the full year outlook are extremely helpful. I'm just wondering if there's any finer point you could put on kind of the cadence from 3Q to 4Q versus maybe kind of a normal seasonal cadence. I mean you talked about the startup costs and I think you talked about them second half. I'm just wondering if we could expect those to be more weighted towards 3Q or 4Q or if there are changes in energy costs in EMEA or just any kind of thoughts on what the 3Q 4Q cadence might look like versus a normal year.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Hi Anthony, thanks for the question. So what we have said is we expect roughly $35 million worth of startup costs in the year. We've detailed about 5 million of those in the first half of the year, really in the second quarter. And for Q3, Q4, to be frank, it's a little challenging for us to give you a specific number but we still expect to see the 30 million of the 35 million flow into the back half of the year. What I will say is really great news for us is our plant in Millersburg is now making commercial cans as of last month and we're looking forward to ramping that up and you should expect to see the full benefit of that in 2027.
We're just in the process of getting it ramped up, so wouldn't want to provide any more details than just the back half. Hope that's okay.
Anthony Pettinari, Analyst at Citi
I don't know if you can give maybe some additional thoughts or color on the South American market and your individual markets there. Given thoughts on the second half. Given the 2Q outperformance, some of your peers have maybe expressed some conservatism towards the end of the year. I'm just wondering if you can give any more thoughts given the really strong quarter that you had there.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, thanks for that question. We're, quite frankly, really pleased with our performance in South America. We noted last quarter that we were going to see a good second quarter when we knew that that was coming through. And I mentioned how we were doing relative to our Q1 performance when we talked about April. So firstly, South America can be volatile. We know that quarter to quarter and it's driven by customer activity that we have the privilege to serve, what time of year it is, et cetera, et cetera.
So I think I would start by just saying let's not get too fixated on any one given quarter. Last quarter we were down a little bit. This quarter we were up a lot. For the full year, we are focused on delivering against our long term growth outlook of 4 to 6%. And we came into the year saying we'd be on the low end of that range. We have even more confidence that we'll be at least at the low end of that range and maybe even into the middle of that range on a full year basis.
So Q1 and Q2 kind of offset and we more than make up. We're right where we're supposed to be for the full year as we sit here today through the first half of the year. Other than that, we're just focused on serving our customers. The can market in general, I would say can market in general in South America is very healthy. What is unique to us, and you mentioned it, is that we are the can maker in South America that makes cans in more countries than anybody else.
So we have a privileged place in the region. What happened in the quarter: we drove strong mid-teen volume growth combined with a really good network, really good operational performance, really good commercial performance and that delivered meaningful flow through. I don't want to comment anything specifically about individual countries other than to say outside of Brazil, which is the predominance of our business, all of the countries that are also in South America for us generally are accretive to our business and this quarter was no exception.
So I would summarize the quarter by saying we have a privileged customer portfolio and they enjoyed success from World Cup and we benefited from their success.
Anthony Pettinari, Analyst at Citi
Okay, that's very helpful. I'll turn it over.
OPERATOR
Thank you, Anthony. Our next question comes from the line of George Staffos with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.
George Staphos, Analyst at Bank of America
Hi everyone. Good morning. Thanks for the details. I wanted to spend my first question on operations and then second question, dig into the volume outlook. Ron, if we look at the results and they were certainly at least in line with your guidance in North and Central America though, even if we add back the startup costs, I think EBIT would have been comparable. EBIT would have been about flat despite volume growth and so recognizing there is inflation with Millersburg, I'm sure there are other factors that maybe hit the network.
Can you talk why you didn't see your normal or your at least targeted operating leverage? And then within Europe as well, we had, you know, mid single digit volume growth. I don't think we saw, if I did my calculations right, the normal lift in EBIT relative to volume. Was that, Dan, just a function of the different moving pieces one year versus the other in terms of the businesses there? How should we think about that?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, George, for the question. I'll start and then I'll ask Dan to add a little color, if you don't mind. Starting in North America, we are notably tight, as we've said coming into the year, and we did have volume growth in the quarter and the first half of the year in North America. So with those high utilization rates and, quite frankly, some good volume growth that we knew was coming through, it equates to some operational friction, no doubt.
And that puts pressure on everything: on the way we plan, on scheduling, on labor, on freight, maintenance, et cetera, et cetera. And a little shout out to our teams that work in our plants. It's extremely hot. Like, as I walk our plants, it's an environment that is challenging to work in. So thanks to them, and that's why, quite frankly, we're investing for growth. We bought a plant in Florida. As you know, it's fully operational for us and fully integrated into our network.
And now we're bringing up this new plant in Millersburg, Oregon. And that will relieve some pressure and obviously support our customers and help us to deliver operating leverage in the long term. From a European perspective, I would just say the acquisition that we made of the two plants, one in Belgium and one in Hungary, we knew that we were also quite tight in Europe and these were two acquisitions that helped from that capacity standpoint. But we also knew that we needed to get them ramped up and into our network.
That will take us more or less the full year of 2026. And so we're similarly tight there and it's similarly hot. And we are managing through that process. But from an overall puts and takes... Maybe, Dan, you could take the back half of that question.
Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, excuse me. As we think about the quarter, I think we have to say that the demand, the volume demand was really strong, strong in all of our markets. And our two biggest markets, both the North America and the EMEA segment, really came in with limited capacity. So we were pretty tight coming in. Volumes and orders came in really strong, so it obviously put a little stress and strain on our network. But really when you look at it, we never really wanted or had intended to be evaluated on every segment, every quarter, on operating leverage.
It's just not the way the business works. And you pointed out obviously that we came up a little short in North America, and that really does come from the fact that we saw some startup costs and also, with the strong demand, it really just challenged us to deliver at times. And these are good problems to have because they're based on orders and strong demand. But I think that's the main takeaway. I think the operating leverage in the rest of the company was pretty good.
And actually for the enterprise at large, it was fabulous. 8% operating earnings growth. We don't do much better than that ever. And so that's a great mark.
George Staphos, Analyst at Bank of America
Yeah, I appreciate that, Dan. Just wanted to peer under the hood, so to speak. Point of clarification. Was there any operational friction costs related to Benefact into Q that in some ways we should adjust for? And then the second question: Ron, you talked about strength obviously in energy and non-alcoholic beverages. So what are you seeing and implying in terms of the outlook for alcohol, for beer? Has there been any change in momentum in some of the ready-to-drink and other categories?
Thanks, guys, and good luck in the quarter.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, George. First, on your question on Benefact operational friction, these are plants. One is a brand-new startup plant. So we need to think of the plant in Hungary as just a startup plant. And the plant in Belgium, we are working diligently to get to 24/7 operation just like the plant in Hungary. So I would say, in general, we're right on track with what we expected from those plants, but they are not accretive to our overall business yet.
And that's what we said we were getting when we bought those plants. And we're excited about them. We're really pleased. From a category perspective, I think you're maybe talking specifically about North America. That's right, yeah. So I'll start by saying this. The can is winning. It continues to win. It's been winning for years. We have shown volume growth across our business all of last year, in fact accelerating last year. So we've now completed our sixth quarter of growth.
We expect that to continue for the foreseeable future. And we had a really strong quarter: 4% plus volume growth on the back of a comparable 4% plus volume growth in Q2 of last year and a plus 4% volume growth in all of 2025. That's above what we expect from our long-term outlook. As far as categories, as I said, the can is winning and we're focused on supporting all of our customers. I would say the other thing about the dynamics of the beverage industry is the can is used to deliver value to consumers, be it in single format or really in the multipack format.
And we have a great customer portfolio. So we're seeing growth even in a really tight capacity environment for us. As it relates to individual categories, I couldn't say more than what you see in all the data that you all analyze and, quite frankly, share with us. So beer, along with soft drinks and energy, is delivering growth ultimately for our business and for the can industry overall.
George Staphos, Analyst at Bank of America
Thank you very much.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Appreciate the thoughts, George.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from the line of Gabe Hajdi with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.
Gabe Hajdi, Analyst at Wells Fargo
Good morning, Ron, Dan. Thanks for taking the question in detail. I wanted to maybe piggyback, I guess, on George's question a little bit differently. I think there had been some commentary about alcohol as part of the portfolio being about 40% and maybe over time getting closer to 30%. I'm just curious if under your purview and as you look at things, is that still part of the initiatives across the organization? And again, I appreciate that you're servicing customers and making sure that they have everything they need.
Is it maybe just natural attenuation if you're kind of projecting beer to be down low single digits in volumetric terms and then the can continuing to win? Just help us think about that maybe over the medium term.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Thank you. So thanks, Gabe, for the question. As I said, the can is winning. And as far as the category goes, beer is an important category for us and it's an important category for the can industry, but it's certainly not our only category, nor is it our biggest category. And as you can see from our overall volumes relative to other substrates, the can does continue to win, and that's because of other categories continuing to pick up the pace.
So I would just say, number one, consumers want convenience. That means they're going to drink more from packaged beverages. And when they drink more from a packaged beverage, more often than not, they will continue to accelerate the pace of buying a can versus another substrate. We have the privilege and right to win in that environment. So I think regardless of what is being sold in that can, the can will continue to grow and we're going to help all of our customers to win in that regard.
Gabe Hajdi, Analyst at Wells Fargo
Appreciate that. Also, I think last call you mentioned being kind of 90% sold out in North America, or I should say contracted, excuse me, in North America, and then 50%, I think, for the end of the decade. Are there any updates there and then specific maybe to Europe? I think you mentioned picking up some business over there. Just anything material that we should be mindful of maybe going into '27. Thank you.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Hey, thanks, Gabe. So first of all, on our outlook for contracted volumes, we don't intend to provide a quarterly guidance on these calls as to what our outlook is. We provided that anecdotally. I would say there's been no material change to that. We are more than 50% sold out through the end of the decade. We said that before and that's still true. And the reason we shared that before is just to give you confidence that demand is out there from our customers.
But it's more of an anecdotal comment. We don't plan to update that on a quarterly basis. As it relates to Europe, Europe is the land of opportunity. Can penetration rates are lower than anywhere else in the regions we serve. Sustainability tailwinds are stronger in Europe than they are in any other region we serve. And there is more investment in can filling capacity than anywhere else in the regions we serve. So Europe is an absolute land of opportunity.
And you can see it in our, as well as our primary competitors', volume growth this quarter and over the last several years. Now, as it relates to customers and contracts, etc., I would just say overall volume growth, nothing specific to any given customer or business we won that I would call out. Again, we will, given the acquisition we made, finish above the high end of our 3% to 5% growth outlook for the year in Europe, or in our EMEA business.
So we're really pleased with it and we're going to continue to serve our customers with distinction there because they are really growing with the can.
Gabe Hajdi, Analyst at Wells Fargo
Thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from the line of Elaine Rodriguez with Mizuho. Please proceed with your question.
Elaine Rodriguez, Analyst at Mizuho
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Quick question on the volume by segment: how do you think your regional volumes did compared with the markets, essentially? Did they lag or outpace the respective markets?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much for the question. So let me just review where we said we would be for the full year and then I'll tell you what I feel from the quarter perspective. For the full year we said we will be in this 2% to 3% long-term outlook. We may be towards the high end of that range. And we said North America would be on the low end of our 1% to 3% range. We said EMEA would be above our 3% to 5% range and South America would be on the low end of our 4% to 6% range.
In the quarter, I would say we grew low single digits, right in line with what we expected. In North America, some were higher, some were lower. In EMEA we grew right in line with the mid single digits as we called out. You know, I think we were right in line with market probably in both of those geographies. And clearly the standout was South America where we grew mid-teens and the market was more flattish to up slightly. So that's probably the puts and takes by region on our volumes in the quarter.
Elaine Rodriguez, Analyst at Mizuho
No, that's fair. And also, can you talk about capital allocation and should we expect about $200 million of share repurchase in each of the remaining quarters, or will there be more nuance to that?
Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, hi, this is Dan. Going to take that question from a capital allocation perspective, specific to share repurchases. We're still standing by the guidance that we've been holding out all year, and that is that we would repurchase around $600 million worth of shares and deliver close to another $200 million in dividend for a total of $800 million of return back to the shareholders. So that still holds true. Through the first half of the year, we've done about $100 million of those share repurchases, and that was also what was contemplated as well because of the back half nature of our free cash flow.
It comes in the back half of the year, and we really didn't want to take on the risk on the balance sheet by leveraging up to make those share repurchases. Okay, thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from the line of Hilary Kakanondo with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question. Hilary Kakanondo, your line is live.
Hilary Kakanondo, Analyst at Deutsche Bank
Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, I was on mute. Sorry about that. I know cans are winning and it seems like there's still substrate shifts going on in Europe, but in North America, would you say the volume growth is still coming from substrate shift or is it more from new product launches? And if so, are there any new products or categories coming out over the next year that you're really excited about?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Hi, Hilary, thanks for the question. What I can say is, looking at the data that we get and that I'm sure you all pore over, the overall beverage market in North America is relatively flat, while the can grows over the last year in that 2% to 3% range, while other substrates decline similarly, 2% to 3%, something like this. So overall, the can just continues to take share in the normal course of business. As far as what we see from the market, our customers, certainly when it comes to launching new products and categories, more often than not it is in a can.
And the great news is when our customers choose the can, they lean into it with the ability to deliver value to consumers through different sizes, different multipack capacities. And that allows them to meet their customers and their consumers where they are. So that innovation with respect to sizes and pack size configuration really helps the can to win and our customers to win with the can.
Hilary Kakanondo, Analyst at Deutsche Bank
Got it. Great. Thank you so much. And then just a quick, I guess a modeling question. I know Millersburg startup cost is $35 million in 2026. Are you expecting anything in 2027, or we're pretty much done in terms of spending in 2026?
Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, this is Dan. I'll take that. So really the first part of your statement is really what we expect on the startup cost: the 5 million that came in this quarter and then really, you know, upwards of 30 million more in the second half of this year. And so it's very much on plan. And the plan was really for it to be a contributor next year. And so we're making cans there, and we're not on a continuous basis, of course, but that's really what the ramp up is all about, getting it up to speed so it can be productive for next year.
That's correct.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from the line of Mike Rocksland with Truist. Please proceed with your questions.
Mike Rocksland, Analyst at Truist
Yeah, thank you, Ron, Dan, Brandon, for taking my questions and congrats on all the progress. My first question is in terms of just trying to get an early read on how volumes are shaping up for 27, realizing that you're more than 90% sold. Obviously you opened Millersburg last month; you expect a full ramp in 27. When should that occur? Late 27, mid 27. And similar question for Renipac, when do you expect to run those assets full next year?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Hi Mike, thanks for the question and thanks for the congratulatory comment. Gives me a chance to accept them on behalf of our 16,000 Ball employees who are working very hard to support our customers and deliver really great value for our shareholders and all of their colleagues. So on behalf of those 16,000 colleagues of mine, thank you and I accept your congratulatory comments. You know, as for 2027, we aren't concerning ourselves too much with guidance on 2027 on this call.
What I will say, and I reiterate, is we grew 4 plus percent in Q2 on the back of 4 plus percent growth last year for the full year and 4% in the second quarter last year. So this is our sixth consecutive quarter of growth. And that's just a clear evidence and sign that the can is winning and will continue to win on a go forward basis for the long term. We are confident in our 2 to 3% volume growth outlook. So that's what you should continue to model for us.
And quite frankly, this year we will again probably finish above that, certainly above the 2 to 3%, so slightly above that. And next year we expect to be in that range. As it relates to Millersburg, again, I said we started making commercial cans there last month. We expect to deliver pretty much the full value of that plant, let's say certainly beginning sometime in the first quarter. I would say we may not have it ramped completely on January 1st, but we should expect to have pretty much the full value of that plant in 2027.
As it relates to benefact, similarly, this year is about integrating those assets. They should be fully ramped and operational, running as a part of our network and being accretive just as they normally would do any other plant startup. So we have some big opportunities to deliver good value to ourselves and to our customers in 2027 as a result of those investments.
Mike Rocksland, Analyst at Truist
Very clear, Ron. And just one quick follow up on the volumes. Where do volumes stand currently for July thus far by region and any early read or your order books look like for August thus far, realizing it's earlier in the month. Thank you.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. Yeah, thanks, Mike. So I would say we're right on track in July results from our quarter and full year. It's still very, very much summer in the Northern Hemisphere and extremely warm and a lot of activity. So really, you know, we have great confidence in our Q3 plan based on our July and month to date August numbers. Nothing special to call out there other than we're right on our, right on our plan.
Mike Rocksland, Analyst at Truist
Got it. Good luck in the second half.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Mike.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from line of Josh Spector with UBS. Please proceed with your question.
Anoja Shah, Analyst at UBS
Hi, good morning. It's Anoja Shah sitting in for Josh. I know it's a smaller category, but I wanted to talk about the other category, and it seems like your aerosol business did pretty well in 2Q. Can you just talk about what went right and is this kind of a new run rate for you in aerosol? And then separately, one of your aerosol competitors just announced an expansion in Pennsylvania. Can you talk about the competitive environment you're seeing there right now?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Thanks for the question. We're really pleased to get to talk about our, what we call our personal and home care business. I would just say consistently, and this quarter is no exception, our personal and home care business is accretive to our overall volume growth and our operating earnings growth. And while it's relatively small, we really like our PHC business and it gives me the chance to thank all the people, all my colleagues that work in our personal and home care business.
So we like it. We like it going forward and we think that investment in this business by us or competitors is good because there's continued demand, just really positive, and we see good outlook for it.
Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, this is Dan. I would overlay just a couple of things. One is obviously this business at times grows even higher rates than our beverage can business does. And this quarter really was no exception to that, so high single digits for the quarter. But I would say a lot of it has to do with the industry dynamics. And for North America, it really consists of two markets. It consists of the U.S. and Mexico. We happen to be located in Mexico, and so when a competitor really comes up in Pennsylvania or in the U.S., it's almost like it's not necessarily relevant in some regards because our competition really are those who are down in Mexico.
Anoja Shah, Analyst at UBS
Okay, great. Thank you for that. And then there was a pretty big change to Section 232 in July that I think includes some incentives for domestic production of aluminum. Do you expect any near to medium term impact? I know you have an immediate pass through on aluminum, but maybe this could mean some relief for end consumers that could have a potentially positive impact on your volumes here in North America. Thanks. I'll turn it over after.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thanks for that question. The short answer is no, we aren't seeing any impacts, and also no, we don't foresee any big change relative to tariff and trade policies in the U.S. or globally for that matter. We just can't forecast or predict them, and we understand what was offered in terms of the Section 232 changes, but they're just not material enough to really move the needle. It does give me a chance to say that we and the industry are concerned and keep an eye on aluminum price because the cost of aluminum, while it is a pass through model, does ultimately affect end consumer demand and our customers.
So the can continues to win and grow even in that elevated cost environment for aluminum, but we would very much like to see aluminum prices lower. And I think, you know, the investments that are happening in the industry, be it smelting or rolling, we encourage and we're excited about those investments as they come online, be it in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.
Anoja Shah, Analyst at UBS
Great, thank you.
OPERATOR
Our next question comes from the line of Matt Roberts with Raymond James. Please proceed with your question.
Matt Roberts, Analyst at Raymond James
Good morning. Thank you for the time. Really quick, on volumes. Are you saying above 2 to 3, or the high end? Just clarification there on your comments.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. Hi Matt. So I said on the foot for this year, the 2 to 3% we should be at or above. You know, it's hard for us to call it, but I would say right now as we sit at the half year, we're right in the middle of that range. So we expect to see some acceleration of volume growth in the back half of this year, and we'll be, I would just say, call it 3% is probably good enough for right now. That's probably the best I could do in prognosticating how we'll finish the year.
Matt Roberts, Analyst at Raymond James
And then really just one other for me, thinking about the incremental capacity in Millersburg in 27, recognizing certainly network relief valves the capacity creates from operational and cost perspective, but is there any change in product mix from that facility? Any difference in standard and specialty shift in 27, or is Millersburg in line with the system average? Trying to look at the operating leverage impacts, is it really off of cost or any mix?
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, thanks for the question, Matt. So again, we're really happy with our investment in the Pacific Northwest. It's a long way to ship cans there, so we're excited to have capacity back in that region. We started producing last month. It was an important milestone for us. It's also important to know this is a one-line plant. It will be fully ramped up in 2027, but it is still only a one-line plant and it's only making standard size cans. So you won't see a mix shift impact from that plant, so it'll be more or less in line.
I will say there's a continued move from standard cans to more what we call fleet cans, et cetera. So there you will continue to see mix shift, but it won't be as a result of this plant coming online in 2027 at a full ramp up.
OPERATOR
Our next question is a follow up from Gabe Hajdi with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.
Gabe Hajdi, Analyst at Wells Fargo
Thank you guys for taking the follow up. Ron, I guess as you think about North America or NACA being a 1 to 3% growing geography for you all, I know you're adding Millersburg and that's going to give you some relief in the Pacific Northwest. But I think I've heard you say at least three times like things are pretty tight and it's not optimal for the system. Generally speaking, again, appreciating we know there's seasonality, you guys build inventories in the spring and et cetera, et cetera.
But I want to understand as you look across the system, are there other areas for you to add a little bit of alcoholic capacity? Whether it's, you know, decorators on the back end or additional lines, or anything that you'd be adding in North America would require new, you know, four walls and brick and mortar. Thank you.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Gabe. I appreciate that additional question because it does give me a chance to talk a little bit about those opportunities. One, I would say let's start with the industry itself. I would characterize the can making industry in North America as healthily tight. There's been many quarters of volume growth. It is the reason why we're building and bringing this new plant up and online, and I think we will continue to be disciplined in our investments.
Any investment we make will be backed by long-term offtake agreements with our most strategic customers where we have built relationships and earned their trust over decades. As it relates to where else can we debottleneck, of course we can always pursue debottlenecking. We have a number of projects that we've been working on this year in a number of our plants that we don't go into great detail on because it's the normal course of business. But yes, the answer is we expect to deliver efficiency and productivity in our network each and every year.
So hopefully that answers your question. Gabe, thank you.
OPERATOR
All right, I think we have time for one more question. Thank you. Our final question comes from the line of Phil Eng with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.
John, Analyst at Jefferies
Hey Ron, Dan, Brandon, thanks for all the details. This is John on for Phil. I just wanted to touch on a couple of points. First, we've had a couple of capacity announcements in India. I know you guys have some capacity there. Just wondering what you're seeing from competition, market growth from that standpoint. And then jumping over to South America, could you quantify in any way the amount of World Cup volumes that came through in the quarter?
I mean, I know it's not necessarily easy, but just thinking for a modeling purpose how much of a drag that could be next year. And then I'll follow up with one more question.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Appreciate it. Thanks, John. So firstly, as it relates to India, we talk about Europe and EMEA as a land of opportunity and India is accretive to that comment. It is a land of opportunity and can growth is, you know, more than teens in that region and has been for a while. We, as you said, have announced capacity expansion in one of our two plants on top of a capacity expansion we've already done and, as you see, lots of announcements for capacity growth.
So it's an exciting part of the world backed by governmental changes that we believe will be strongly accretive to can growth in the long term. So we're excited about India and we're excited to have a business there that's been thriving for many, many years. As it relates to World Cup in South America, again we had open capacity because it is the winter, lower season there. We have an unrivaled customer portfolio and their success promoting World Cup was our success.
It's hard to put a number on what would be the impact of that. What I will say is we plan to grow at the low end, maybe the middle of our 4 to 6% growth in the year, and that's right where we expect to deliver in the long term. So rather than put a number on it, I will just say it should not be meaningful over a year-to-year basis. We still intend to grow 4 to 6% next year on top of a really strong 4 to 6% growth this year.
John, Analyst at Jefferies
All right, that's helpful. And then one of your larger North American beer customers has made some investments in their metal can packaging operations to expand some of their growing brands. They're relatively small, but I'm just wondering if this is more of a factor of how tight you guys are currently running in North America or maybe it's a little bit of a focus growing in some of the other faster growing categories than necessarily mass beer. But any thoughts you could provide around that and maybe your mix in North America and how you're thinking about it going forward would be very helpful.
Ron Lewis, Chief Executive Officer
Thanks. All right. Thanks, John. Honestly, I don't think we have enough information to comment on what our customers are doing relative to building or buying capacity. I would just say we support all of our customers, obviously, and we are tight as is the industry, and that's a good thing for this industry. So I don't really want to comment on other people's capacity and what they're doing, if you don't mind. I think that was our last question. I just will finish by saying thanks to everybody for your interest in us, for our investors on this line, for your investment in us, for all of you analysts, for continuing to help us tell our story, your partnership in doing that. We appreciate that very much and we look forward to talking with all of you a lot more about our business and sharing our story because we are really excited about this first half of the year. We delivered exactly as we expected to do. It's a reflection of how the can continues to win and the long-term nature and the resilient nature of this business and this industry that we have the privilege to participate in and be a leading market participant in and run.
So thank you very much on behalf of all of my colleagues at Ball for your interest in us. And we look forward to talking with you all again very soon.
OPERATOR
Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day.
Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.
Login to comment