Coca-Cola Ends Year on a High Operational Performances

Coca-Cola on Thursday reported higher sales and profit for the fourth quarter and full-year 2019, driven by concentrate sales growth of 2% for the quarter and 1% for the full year, with a price/mix rise of 5% coca-cola Net sales in the quarter grew by 16% to $9.1bn, while full-year net revenue rose by 9% to $37.3bn.
The company said that the fourth quarter included one additional day, which resulted in an approximate 1-point benefit to revenue growth.

Commenting on the results, James Quincey, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, said: “We made good progress in 2019 by delivering on our financial commitments and growing in a more sustainable way.”

The company noted that it continued to gain value share in total nonalcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverages.

Coke also said it continues to expand its portfolio and capabilities through strategic acquisitions of brands in on-trend categories, citing its acquisition of fairlife dairy business in the United States as one such example.

In North America, the company said that Price/mix grew by 2% for the quarter, driven by solid performance across the majority of category clusters, with Unit case volume coming in flat.

Europe, Middle East & Africa saw 3% price/mix growth, with Unit case volume of 4% in the fourth quarter, led by strong growth across Nigeria, North Africa, Turkey and Central & Eastern Europe.

Latin America saw the highest Price/mix growth of 17% with Unit case volume of 3% in the quarter, driven by growth in Brazil and Mexico, which partially offset declines in Argentina.

Asia Pacific Price/mix grew by 5%, with 2% Unit case volume growth.

Coke reported $2.04bn in net income for the fourth quarter, from $870m it made in 2018. Profits grew by 39% in the full year to $8.9bn from $6.4bn in the previous year.

The company said it expects organic sales growth of about 5% in 2020.

February 02, 2020