NEW YORK (Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co,the world’s largest maker of soft drinks, reported higher-than-expectedquarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by higher sales, acquisitions andforeign exchange rates.
Coca-Cola said fourth-quarter net income was $1.21 billion, or 52cents per share, compared with $678 million, or 29 cents per share, ayear ago.
Excluding charges, Coke earned 58 cents per share, topping analysts’average estimate of 55 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
Net operating revenue rose to $7.33 billion from $5.93 billion ayear ago, helped by a 6 percent increase in sales of drink concentrate,the company’s main business.
Currency exchange rates boosted revenue 8 percentage points, sincethe weak dollar versus foreign currencies increases the value ofinternational sales when they are converted to U.S. dollars forinclusion on the company’s income statement.
Unit case volume rose 5 percent in the quarter, supported by acquisitions.
Coke, which owns about 35 percent of its bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, saw its year-ago profit impacted by an asset write-down the bottler took related to its North American franchise license.
Coca-Cola, like rival PepsiCo Inc,has seen its North American profits hurt by rising commodity costs anda consumer shift away from traditional carbonated soft drinks towarddrinks such as bottled water and tea, which are seen as healthier.
But Coke has offset weak sales of drinks like Coca-Cola and Spritewith strong sales in emerging markets, acquisitions of noncarbonateddrinks including Vitaminwater, and the introduction of Coke Zero, ano-calorie version that tastes more like "the Real Thing" than DietCoke.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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